The Speed I Lack
by AmericanWordsmith
Summary: Just the youngest goddess of the realm of Vanaheim, Anu is used to being overlooked. So she's not surprised when she's sent to join The Avengers on Midgard. That doesn't make her any more happy about the situation, especially not when she gets stuck with the Soldier Out of Time. (Picks up after Winter Soldier and is a spin-off series from "For the Nine," able to be read alone.)
1. Chapter 1

Anu raged through her family's palace on Vanaheim. Her newly coronated sister had just ordered her to go to Midgard. _Not_ as ruler, _not_ with any suitable marriage in mind… simply to keep an eye on things!

True she'd never been to Midgard, but she had heard enough to definitively know she would not like it. Her sister Zinia, the Queen, had just returned from the realm herself with horrible things to say about their poverty and standards for what was considered an appropriate way to treat other people.

She was to join some sort of group called The Avengers. Thor, her to-be brother-in-law was a member as well and promised she'd get along with the Midgardian group. He said they were the closest things to gods on that realm.

Anu was walking—or briskly anger-walking—alongside Thor to the room of Mimir's basin. Mimir was the Spring from which the Vanir could travel the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil. It was like the Asgardian Bifrost, only considerably more deadly.

She would not be allowed servants while living there. Even her reigning sister had been allowed none, but she was only_ visiting_, not living there. She had only been allowed two enormous trunks and she had to undergo the introspective process of defining what was truly important to her. Her clothes would also be unacceptable on Earth so she packed a minimum.

Zinia wasn't even there to see her off. She and Loki were in Alfheim, back to her royal progress. Then she would return to Vanaheim for her wedding. Would Anu even be invited to that? She was certain she would, but it deal feel a great deal as if she was being exiled currently.

Next to her, Thor was more upbeat. He liked Midgard. He'd found a woman there; her own mother had found her father there. Still, Zinia herself had come back completely unsubtle in her disdain for the realm.

They reached the room of The Spring. Anu had forgone enchantment in favor of the heavy fur of a tiger, something she might need depending on when and where she traveled in the realm. Thor was cloaked as well. Her sisters and parents waited for her.

Thor took some time with his new betrothed, whom he would see again soon enough, Enir, kissing her softly. She was glowing.

Her parents took some time to give her a last few words of advice, all of which Anu primarily ignored. Her stomach was clenching and unclenching in anxiety. She looked around at the sisters that still remained in Vanaheim. The second eldest, Tiamat, had been much braver when she left Vanaheim to marry Apollo in the neighboring cosmos of Andromeda. And no one could ever match Zinia's outright enthusiasm for having an excuse to travel elsewhere.

Essure, Enir's twin, held her close, a few tears escaping. Now that her twin was engaged to Thor, she'd gotten much closer to her other sisters. Only still left were Nanshe and Kia, so busy was Thor with his betrothed. But to be honest, she didn't want to have to mull over this terrible goodbye. She stepped into the large stone basin in the center of the room after a final hug with everyone. The basin was being filled by the icy waters of Mimir, a spring connected to one of the three roots of their cosmos, Yggdrasil. Thor stepped in with her, carefully covered in his cloak, and lifted Mjolnir. Lightning spiked through the water and to his hammer, and they were gone.

* * *

The landed in what appeared to be a great room of abandoned Midgardian technology. Thor had let her know in advance it was an abandoned military base. They couldn't land directly in DC or New York without attracting a lot of attention.

They were surrounded by the ones she supposed were The Avengers: A man in an iron suit, a soldier decked in red, white, and blue, an average man with glasses, and two agents decked in black—male and female, the male with arrows pointed at her. In front of them all was a towering man with an eye patch. Anu had not expected herself to appear so slight in comparison to mere Midgardians. She discarded her great winter robe, realizing how hot and stuffy it was in the room. She wore a simple pale pink sheath that complimented her strawberry blonde hair. With little dark magic in her, she was not as pale in complexion as her sister but she was much smaller and slighter. It made her look weak and she could tell those surrounding her were not impressed. It made her scowl and cross her arms defensively before anyone had even said anything.

The man with the eye patch stepped up, "I'm Agent Nick Fury. Are you… are you _Zinia's_ sister?"

"_Yes_," she hissed.

"Everyone, this is Princess Anu of Vanaheim," Thor said stepping in but they were not to be deterred.

"Are we going to have to look after her?" the woman in the room asked.

"How is she supposed to help us do anything?" the man with the arrows added.

The man with the glasses look on quietly for a moment before saying softly, "Sometimes impressive things come in small packages."

"Well then," the man inside the iron suit demanded, "Impress us."

She summoned all of her confidence and produced a burst of energy from within herself that rippled out from all directions. The force of it even sent Thor flying backwards.

"Alright," Agent Fury said, "That's a good start."

"Well," the Man of Iron said, "She's not staying at my place."

At first, Anu hadn't known exactly what that meant. All she knew was that she had been arranged to stay in Stark Towers. When she finally remembered Tony Stark and Iron Man were one in the same, she asked where she was meant to stay. As a royal, she had never been denied hospitality… but Stark insisted his tower was only _just_ now finishing up renovations that fixed the damage the last god did. Thor was already heading back to Vanaheim to take hsi betrothed to Asgard, so Anu was about to be left all alone.

_None_ of them wanted her. She was being shuffled around like common cattle. She _actually_ felt like crying, but held it in stoically. Finally, the Soldier out of time came forward on her behalf.

She almost hugged him but, still feeling both spiteful and prideful about her predicament, she only offered him a curt handshake and a simple "Thank you, Captain."

* * *

"So, how old are you?" he asked as he drove them to his apartment in Brooklyn that he'd moved back to since the events in DC. He was trying to be polite; everyone had been rather rude to the girl and she'd stayed bitterly silent since.

"Nine hundred and seventy," she answered, looking at him quirking up an eyebrow. "And you?"

"Technically 95, but when I was lost in the 40s, I was still in my twenties," he continued. "Is there some kind of… scale? How old you would be in our years?"

"18 or so," she said with a shrug. Really she was more like 17 as she had not had her 1000th birthday ceremony yet.

_Did they think this would be some sort of fun pet project for him? _Steve wondered. He was still trying too hard to get himself to regulate to 2014. Even after all his time in DC and all he'd learned about SHIELD and Hydra, he still could not seem to adjust. And he _wanted _to be out looking for Bucky, but no one else had stepped up and she was definitely here to stay even if it was on the streets. He cast a glance her way. She was still staring straight forward.

Still, he couldn't deny the wonder of a Vanir goddess. Her name was purportedly "The Heavenly One" in Ancient Sumerian, according to He'd already seen Queen Zinia and knew that there was at least one race of beings more impressive than the Asgardians. Zinia had seemed to glow from within; not to mention, she'd tamed Loki.

This whole age situation was rather strange though, he kept thinking. Tony loved reminding him he was technically 95. This girl was apparently just under a millennia, a considerable bit older than the soldier, but simultaneously only just 18 or so. Either way, she knew way less about Earth than he did, and he was trying to move on with his life.

* * *

She had practically cried—no wait, she _had_ cried—she had practically _grieved_, when informed she couldn't keep her servants. Though she called them "handmaidens" and insisted they were "old childhood friends!" She had repeated the story to Steve in the car when she finally found her voice or, at least. room in her bitter attitude for complaints. Everything about this girl wasn't just out of this world—because there were cultures like hers on Earth—she was just entirely un-American. Steve sadly thought that might be worse and he walked her into his New York apartment. If she was going to expect to be _waited on_, she would be figuring some things out-

He had just locked the door behind them when she had latched onto him, crushing her lips to his. He was shocked at how much he immediately enjoyed the kiss, and how hard it was to convince himself to stop her. She was surprisingly strong, kissing him with adore, but he still pried her off fairly easily.

"What are you doing?!" he cried at her in shock, panting and holding her far off of him.

"What do you mean? Surely this is why they put me with you?"

Steve both knew what that meant and, simultaneously, had _no clue _what that meant.

"Look, young lady," he said pointing at her, and started to blush when he saw her hold back a laugh, "_That_ will absolutely never happen between us. They put you with me since we're both… adjusting to Earth right now. That's the end of it. Also, no one really _put_ me with you; I was the only one nice enough to take you in, if you'll remember. _**And **_you're too young for that kind of… that kind of… _anyway!_"

She did finally break down and laugh. "Oh Soldier Out of Time," she said, clutching her own sides, "I am nearly 1000 years old and _sixth_ in line for succession to the throne. Do you really think I've never been with a man before?"

Steve blushed, avoiding her eyes. She laughed harder still, her eyes widening in realization. "Oh that's right!" she exclaimed, "You're not even 100. You're just a baby, that's adorable. Well, when you're ready then."

Steve had never so vehemently _disliked_ a woman before, especially not so immediately. But all he said was, "Let me show you to your room."

* * *

Of course she wasn't happy with her accommodations. Even after SHEILD had offered him a better place… even after _Tony_ had offered him a better place, he just wanted his small place in Brooklyn. He had no clue, yet, why they had put up a princess of another world up in a lowly place like this… but he was going to find out. It might have been characteristic of Tony to shun someone from his home, but certainly not _every single one_ of his colleagues. She'd put on a big show of dissatisfaction.

Finally, exhausted from all of the inexplicable _trials_ of the day, Anu had passed out. He lay her into her bed softly, not risking trying to undress her. He could only imagine how she'd react to that, but he knew it would be unfavorably.

* * *

**Hi everyone! This is a spin-off fic from my Loki / OC fic "For the Nine." I say spin-off and not sequel because 1) The stories are concurrent timelines and 2) This should be able to stand alone without reading the other, though I encourage you to check the other out. "For the Nine" is rated M for some very brief, fairly tame, sexual scenes. They cross over each other as of chapter 16 in the other story. I'll be explaining everything that needs explaining, but the other has other realms very fully fleshed out while this is almost all on Earth. That's everything, hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

Steve felt badly the next morning. He'd been pretty judgmental and hard on her for her first time to an entirely new realm. It was like what he'd experienced times ten. Not to mention, his tiny apartment wasn't really set up for a woman; not even a woman on Earth, much less a princess of Vanaheim. But what did women even need?

Something stirred outside his bedroom; she was already up. It was 10 am; he'd grossly overslept. She probably didn't even know how to use the fridge.

But when he came out of his room, he was surprised to find her with a plate of eggs and toast and a glass of orange juice. She was curled up with her legs beneath her on one of his kitchen chairs quietly reading his copy of _The New York Times_.

"You should put a shirt on," she said, addressing him without even looking up at him. Steve flushed as he looked down. He went back into his room and quickly threw on a t-shirt and a hoodie over top that. When he went back into the room he was even more surprised to see her gesture to a second plate on the table for him.

"Wow, thank you," he said and sat down with her. "How'd you know how to use… everything?" he asked, gesturing around the kitchen, noticing it didn't look like anyone had touched anything.

She rolled her eyes at him before flipping the page of the newspaper, "Magic."

Well, apparently the attitude was there to stay.

"I thought today, I could take you out to… pick up some things for the house?"

She looked at him with an eyebrow cocked, "Can't we just pick up a new house?"

Steve frowned, but didn't let it get to him when he saw her laughing. He remembered she was the youngest of seven daughters total. She'd probably had it hard with teasing; she'd definitely grown up tough and quick.

"What kinds of things?" she asked, standing to properly fold the paper.

"Well, I don't really know…" he admitted, "I've never lived with a woman."

She laughed again; throwing her head back in the same mannerism he'd seen Zinia perform dozens of times during her visit.

"Don't worry Captain, I am an _expert_ on living with women," she said with a coy smile. "Just take me to wherever I may purchase goods."

* * *

Steve wasn't sure why, but the best thing to do seemed to be to take her to Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Anu had insisted that none of the clothes any of the female agents had left was suitable. So, looking through the few things she had packed, Steve thought one of her simple green tunics would be suitable. He gave her an oversized leather jacket of his to wear with it and she kind of looked like an artist that Clint had gotten him into, Janis Joplin. They didn't really look right together… but they weren't supposed to be _together_. The point was, he reminded himself, that they'd need to go clothes shopping.

They pulled into the parking lot of the Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Anu got out to stare at the building perplexed. "You keep your bazaars inside?" she asked.

"Sort of…" Steve replied and lead the way.

Inside, she wandered from aisle to aisle, scanning. Steve could only describe her face as disgusted. They came to an aisle of sheets in several hundreds of colors and thread counts. Anu picked up a pink pair dropped it to the floor disgusted. Steve hurriedly picked it up.

"Surely, there must be _some_place with things more suitable than these!" From the purse Natasha had left for Anu she suddenly produced the largest and thickest gold coin Steve had ever seen. "How much can one of these get me? I brought several hundred."

"Put it away!" Steve said abruptly, pushing the coin down. "Okay, okay… I think we need to go to Manhattan."

* * *

At first, Steve wasn't exactly sure how to exchange Anu's gold for money. He thought they'd probably get scammed at a pawnshop. But then, Tony Stark turned out to be surprisingly interested in buying them off of her for a good price. Steve didn't know what he wanted with the off world gold but, knowing Tony, it was probably something stupid and frivolous.

So then they'd gone to Manhattan; Tony let them borrow a car and one of his drivers for which Steve was glad. He didn't particularly want to make that drive but he didn't think Anu would be able to stomach the subway _or_ a cab _or_, God forbid, a bus.

She'd wanted to stop somewhere quickly to get just one outfit, insisting that she couldn't walk around an upscale part of town in his filthy jacket.

"_Fine_," he'd snapped and took it off of her as they walked into Saks.

As casual as could be, Anu walked up to a woman in the store and lay on a perfect British accent. "Excuse me, I've just arrive to New York and the airline has lost all my luggage! I'm terribly sorry but I don't know anything about American sizes, might you be able to pick out a few things for me?"

The woman was happy to oblige after Anu flashed a little cash explaining "I had to have money wired to me since I don't have my things!"

As the saleswoman bustled about the store, Anu walked with Steve, even picking up a few things and pointing them out to the woman who promptly brought them to a dressing room. Anu, he realized, commanded authority fairly easily. It must have been a trait of all the Vanir women.

Less than 20 minutes later, Anu was leaving the store in a sensible navy pencil skirt, tailored cream blouse, a fitted blazer, and suede cream pumps with a very expensive purse looped around her arm. The woman had, apparently, been able to glean her size instantaneously so they left with a number of other bags filled with clothing selected for her.

"How did you do that?" Steve asked her when they finally left. Where had she learned the British accent? About airlines? That they lost luggage? Getting money wired?

"Have you not noticed that every inch of this city is splashed with advertisements and bits of popular culture?" she asked. "You'd have to be daft not to pick anything up."

Steve wasn't sure if she was trying to insult him or merely stating what she thought true. He didn't sense any malice. He realized though, that perhaps she was not as cold as he'd first thought. Maybe she was constantly so silent because she was absorbing everything around her? If so, he was impressed.

From there, they'd gone to a home goods store where she picked out some of the most expensive linens he'd ever seen in his life and more things for a bathroom than Steve could think you would need in your whole house? She also had furniture shipped to him, after checking if he had room. He didn't but if she wanted to throw out the cheap stuff he'd picked up all over the city and from helpful SHIELD agents and replace it with furniture of this quality, he had no arguments.

He tried thanking her as they left but she dismissed him with a hand wave. "Please, it may be a gift of sorts… but this is almost entirely for my own comfort."

Steve smiled as she walked ahead of him. He suspected she was acting tougher and less gracious than she actually was. Was it just because she was the last daughter that she had developed such a protective shell or was there something else?

* * *

They'd all met at Stark Tower that night. Tony eyed Anu warily, but Steve could tell it was mostly for show at this point. It was certainly easier to take her serious when she didn't have a tiger skin thrown atop her. She looked quite professional. Still not like an Avenger, but definitely a professional Earth woman.

"Your sister has sent word." Thor was back today. "You are to return in just a few days for her wedding to my brother."

Tony scoffed in disgust. He, like most of them, still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of Loki having a wife.

So she was invited after all. Anu smiled, happy to have another chance to go home. Maybe she could even grab a few more of her possessions. She had underestimated these Avengers. She didn't think she'd need her weapons to fight alongside them, but she found herself wishing she had her daggers.

"She would also like as many of you to come as possible," he said to the Midgardians around him, "She has invited representatives from each of the Nine Realms."

"Well then we better have some representatives there," Nick Fury said definitively. "You _all_ are going. These gods aren't seeing anything but the best of the best."

Anu couldn't help feeling an impending sense of smug satisfaction. It would be hard not to respect her after seeing Vanir's capital and her home.

She'd kept her distance for most of the meeting. They were primarily discussing the logistics of their impending trip so she dutifully answered whatever questions came her way. She didn't realize it, but she was coming off as shy. That wasn't the case, she was just being cautious. She wanted to take as much time as she could to assess these Avengers before truly beginning to interact with them.

But already feeling bad for sticking the poor girl in Brooklyn, Clint and Natasha came up to her after everyone was done speaking.

"So we wanted to invite you two over for dinner tomorrow," Natasha began, clearly as a peace offering, "You can tell us what you've seen of the city so far and what we should expect for the wedding…" she trailed off, no one know how the Vanir girl would react.

"Yes, that would be lovely," she said, "And you two can tell me where I should go while I'm here. I'd like to leave New York, and even America, too."

"Sure that sounds great," Clint said.

"What time should we be over?"

"How about eight?"

They all smiled strangely at one another and walked away. It had been one of their most peculiar interactions to date. Steve was wondering if this was like a double date or if he was more like her chaperon as she navigated the city. Anu was still surprised at the fact that Clint and Natasha appeared to be some sort of item. And the latter pair was contemplating the very domesticated thing they had just done. After all of their battles together, they had never simply invited someone over for _dinner_.

So the next night, they were there at eight sharp. Anu had asked what was appropriate to bring on Earth and they'd stopped for wine. It was all very much like a Twilight Zone episode, Steve thought. It was one of the first television shows enough at his pop culture level that he was able to get into since returning to his conscious state.

They rang up to the apartment and Natasha buzzed them in. Steve was started to see her, for the first time, in a classic short black dress and heels. Anu looked the same, but her dress was navy. And Steve and Clint… well they both certainly looked like women had put them together. It was very disarming. The tension in the air was palpable.

"We brought wine," Anu offered.

"We have vodka!" Natasha added.

"I'll take both!" she said.

Natasha had made chicken kiev, a dish from Russia. This, inevitably, lead to Anu asking if she should visit Russia and Natasha simply replied she wasn't sure it was something she'd recommend.

They all proceeded to get smashed and Steve felt comfortable enough to poke a little fun at his friends' newly domesticated life. "You're even _decorating_," he said gesturing to some purple drapes.

"They came with the apartment!" Clint defended quickly.

"Well what about you?" Natasha asked, "Didn't you just go furniture shopping? And didn't he watch you try on clothes?"

Steve and Anu exchanged looks, both blushing, and turning away. Clint laughed.

"Alright, there's nothing going on here," Steve said, shutting down the discussion, "But we should be getting back."

* * *

In just two days before Zinia's wedding, Thor married her sister Enir on Asgard. Poor Enir had no one at her wedding since the family couldn't possibly make it to both. But Anu suspected she was also just happy to be wed first. And just after her own wedding, she and her new husband would be sent back to Vanaheim for Zinia, with no time to themselves. Thor was to be something of a guide for the Midgardians coming.

The next day passed quickly as they packed for the wedding. Steve had asked her if he was supposed to wear something called a tux. Not knowing what it was, she had insisted "No, just where the Captain suit." But then he showed her a picture of one and she decided, "Yes, you should bring one."

She'd insisted they all undergo enchantments to travel via her city's Spring. They simply couldn't have furs warm enough to protect the freezing water. And, upon their arrival, they had the same reaction to the miles high golden gates before a floating ruby city that everyone else did; they were stunned. Natasha wasn't even hiding the fact that she was gathering intel for Fury but she didn't care. Zinia might have had something to say but it wasn't as if the two realms would ever go to war. And if they did, no amount of intel would help them.

The golden gates of Vanaheim's capital opened to them, The Crimson City lay out before them and several large birds of prey were waiting to fly them to the floating city. Anu felt somewhat slighted, typically riding a phoenix, but it didn't stop her from turning to Clint to say "So, do you still wish to call yourself the Hawk?"

He shoved her playfully, still more concerned with looking at the city in awe, and she stumbled into Steve with a laugh. He caught her and set up upright before lifting himself onto one of the birds and offering her his hand. She took it and swung her leg over easily. Once everyone was settled they were off.

* * *

She had gotten her knives and immediately begun sparring with the Man of Iron, who had not taken off the suit since they arrived; he was so suspicious of the gods. In the next day before the wedding, the whole city would spend in leisure. In the days after, too. And part of leisure for the Aesir, Vanir, and many of their guests was to practice fighting.

There was also constant feasting and entertainment. But despite all the distractions and her last chance to be home… Anu found herself spending most of her time showing Steve Rogers Vanaheim.

She was waiting for him in one of their great outdoor courtyards, to show him around the grounds, but he was running late. She did not know that the soldier had run into Loki in the halls.

"So," the God of Mischief asked him, "Have you had her yet?"

Steve was so taken aback his jaw actually dropped.

"Please," Loki sneered, "Zinia told me _all_ about her. How is it living with an incessant little tart like that?"

"What would your wife say if she heard you talking about her like this?"

"Whom do you think I picked the description up from?" he asked, laughing.

"You know, she's actually a lot like _you_. But no one calls you a tart," Steve said firmly.

Loki gave him a mysterious smile. "I'll have to tell Zinia that one; I'm pretty sure she's called me a tart at some point. But why do you think we chose Anu, specifically for Midgard? She is basically one of you already," his eyes glinted. "And why do you think we arranged for her to live with you?"

"You arranged that?" he asked, turning toward Loki in shock but also humiliated understanding.

"Zinia thought you might even her out," he said with a shrug, "She seems to have been right."

Loki abruptly lost interest and continued on his way. Still completely taken aback, Steve slowly began on his way to see Anu.


	3. Chapter 3

The afternoon before her sister's wedding, Anu was called before the newly coronated Queen. Good, she had _plenty_ to report on her situation.

When she entered her sister's childhood apartments, Zinia was soaking in a bath of rosewater. Her maidens around her set out jewels and make-up for the next day.

"Hello," Zinia began cheerfully.

Anu dipped into a low curtsey, "Your Majesty."

"Oh stop," Zinia scoffed. Anu rose with a teasing smile in her eyes. "Tell me of your days on Midgard."

Anu knew the polite thing to do would be to ask Zinia about her upcoming ceremonies, but she launched into her own tales anyway.

"It's _awful_," she said. "They've sent me to live with the soldier in a neighborhood called Brooklyn! Zinia it's horrible."

"Well surely you can purchase new accommodations for yourself? You have money," she replied.

Anu chewed her lip. She _had_ thought of this, the possibility of not living with Steve. "I still don't know my way around," she said, "Not to mention I've spent a big portion of my money on new furnishings for his apartment and appropriate clothing. He considers it a _gift_!" She spat out the word as if she would never gift a Midgardian anything. "To leave now and want my things would be… a whole ordeal!"

"I'll have new money sent for you," Zinia said with a smile, rising from her tub to be draped in soft linens. "Well, as you have no _news_, and only complaints… I suppose you may leave."

Anu rolled her eyes and turned around. Abruptly she turned around for a final goodbye, "Congratulations, I guess!"

Zinia only laughed as she exited the room, just in time for her planned meeting with Steve.

* * *

She was worried how she might look to Steve when he arrived; she was sure the frustration of her most recent conversation was etched into her features. But he was late and, when he did arrive, _he_ was the one looking concerned.

"_Loki_ just stopped me," he said and paused, chewing his words thoughtfully, "He just really caught me off guard. Because of… New York."

"Right," she said, thoughtfully, "I've um, actually just come from meeting my sister."

"Did she say anything about me?"

"Why would she?"

Steve rolled his eyes but put up his hands defensively. "Right, of course, it was just the way you said it!"

"Anyway," she interrupted, "Do you still want me to show you to the swimming baths?"

The idea of that now, just based upon their title for _"pool_,_" _made him almost blush. He wished he had never run into Loki; he was such a master manipulator.

"I don't think so," he said finally, "I think I should probably go tell the others to watch their backs."

She shrugged. "Alright, but my sister wouldn't let him do any real damage."

_Sure_, maybe not any _real_ damage, but definitely some personal damage.

* * *

The rest of The Avengers had mostly stuck together since their arrival, in a pack-like mentality; but even Steve could see it was unnecessary. Everyone here for the celebration was bound in a temporary understood but unspoken peace treaty. The wedding affected the entire cosmos and even those with slight religious tendencies or superstitions, wouldn't risk cursing it with unsavory behavior. That was what Anu had told him.

He found that he liked to hear her explain the differences and intricacies of the realms to him. She described primarily peaceful societies, though none of them function as America or any form of democratic society. Steve still couldn't reconcile his beliefs with that.

Somehow, when he found them all grouped together still, he'd managed to pull Dr. Banner aside first; he felt Bruce might be the least likely to make fun of him for the interaction.

"So, I ran into Loki," Steve said, still frustrated.

Bruce raised his eyebrows. "Oh?" he asked, "Well, you're still in one piece. Is he?"

"Unfortunately," Steve replied, "But he really threw me off guard… he told me that everything had been planned for Anu to end up living with me."

"I don't know much about that, if that's what you're trying to ask me," he said, putting up his hands, "All I know is that Thor specifically told us we were all to refuse offering her a place to stay."

"I didn't think you would know," Steve admitted, "But he said something else, he asked me…"

"He asked you what?" Bruce pressed when the Captain hesitated.

"He asked me if, if I had… _had_ her," he finished.

"Well, I think everyone's wondering that, Steve," Bruce said with a laugh and Steve let out a frustrated, heavy sigh.

"Great, fine," he said, very annoyed. "Can you just let everyone know that Loki's around playing mind games?"

"Sure thing," Bruce said, still laughing.

* * *

Early the morning of her sister's wedding, Anu had an important decision to make. During the main public portion of the ceremony, she could either sit with her family in a section reserved for the royals, or she could sit with her Midgardian guests. For the sake of their anxieties, which never seemed to rest, she decided to stay with her guests.

Dressed in a short and sleeveless dark sapphire tunic, with thin cascading strands of gold tumbling through her hair, she went to meet them. With the exception of Bruce, all of the Midgardians were dressed in their traditional battle clothing. Since Dr. Banner's battle uniform would have been the Hawk, he was looking very uncomfortable in black garb like Natasha and Clint's. She'd told them that would be customary for many of the cultures of Yggdrasil. The Light Elves that had travelled back from Alfheim with Zinia had stayed in gold armor for the entirety of their trip so far, actually.

"Well don't try to outshine the bride or anything," the Man of Iron said as she approached.

"You look wonderful," Natasha said more eloquently.

Steve, she noticed right away, wouldn't even meet her eye. She had a feeling it had something to do with his run-in with Loki the day before. But knowing that gave her the feeling she shouldn't press the subject. She'd only known her sister's betrothed very briefly but she knew that he could mess with you and manipulate people quite easily. She just hoped her own sister was up to snuff for a marriage with someone like that.

"Shall we go?" she asked, "I'll have to leave for the private wedding ceremony but I'll be able to sit with you for the public events."

She led them to a long line winding through the corridors of the palace, where the most respected guests would be led to their seats along the narrow strait of mountains that led to the marriage hall. Even once they were seated, the wait for the ceremony would be hours. Luckily, alcohol, music, and dancing were all encouraged. Each separate stand lined between the mountains effectively became its own private party.

Besides her Midgardian guests, most of the audience in their stand were Vanir. They knew enough to be in awe that Princess Anu was in their stand. But there were also a couple dozen Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, sitting several rows below them. Svartalfheim's queen, Alflyse, had been mysteriously enable to make the ceremonies but she'd sent gifts… most of which were now being consumed by the givers. The elves below them were swigging a liquor from their realm out of canteens filled by great barrels they brought with them. It took surprisingly little effort, though to persuade them to share. Soon, everyone in their stand was gulping dark amber liquor with a strong bitter licorice taste that seemed to make many of them heavily intoxicated—particularly the Midgardians who had only had their own weaker alcohols up to this point.

Before they knew it, cheers began to rise from the stands over a mile closer to the palace than their own. The couple was making their way to marriage hall, flying between the strait of mountains that the stands were placed between. It was easy to tell how close they were getting as the applause grew nearer and nearer.

Finally, a spec of red approached in the distance. As it grew bigger, they could see it was a phoenix, pulling her sister and Loki on her chariot. Normally, Anu clung to the salty feelings that came from being the youngest and resented Zinia. But today, seeing her hands clasped with Loki's, radiating love and warmth, she could only feel proud and happy for her.

She saw Zinia press a kiss to her hand and blow it to their family. "I'll be back," Anu told Steve, who was still fairly inebriated, "I have to go in for the ceremony."

As quickly as possible, she slipped from her seat, dashed down a few flights of stairs to a bridge linking each section of stands, and up a few more stairs to the platform of the floating wedding hall. When she made it up, her family had already stepped down from their seats to greet the couple. Thor exchanged a few words with his brother and Zinia was making her rounds through her sisters for hugs, she reached Anu last.

"Glad you made it in time," Zinia whispered and kissed Anu's cheek.

They followed the couple into the wedding hall. The family, Anu included, took their seats on the stairs of a sunken circle in the hall. In the middle of the circular stairs was the Nabu, the marriage prophet who would bind Zinia and Loki together. Zinia and Loki knelt before each other with the Nabu centered in front of them.

The couple looked at each other in all consuming love; that was clear to anyone witnessing this. So touched was she by the site, that Anu didn't even hear most of the ceremony. She zoned out, both happy for her sister but also overcome with sadness; would she ever find anything like that?

When it was complete, the couple rose and embraced. Anu, and most everyone around her, had tears in their eyes. They all formed a processional line to head back out of the hall. She would take a chariot back to the palace with her family, behind the couple's leading chariot, and meet her guests at the hall for that evening's feast.

* * *

She had found Clint first, so she entered the feasting hall with her. He seemed surprised to see Zinia and Loki there already, watching their own guests arrive.

"This is, kind of the opposite of how it's done on Earth," he explained.

"Hmm," she said with a disinterested shrug. She couldn't help but be on the lookout for Steve. It was only natural, she assumed, that as she was living with him she'd also gotten closest to him. As she took her seat at the table, she finally saw him inter across the hall. He was wearing one of those things she'd shown her… a tux. He looked very different from anyone else there, dark and put together rather than audacious and bright. When you partied with the gods, traditionally everyone tried to be the peacock in the room. But Steve, like her in her own beautiful but understated dark dress, somehow managed to look even better being subtle. She rose to meet him.

"Wow, I really like these suits," she said honestly as she approached.

"Thanks," he said, looking around nervously, "It doesn't seem like anyone else is wearing one though…"

"I am!" Entering the hall right behind him were Dr. Banner and Tony Stark. Banner was wearing a fairly boring grey suit she was sure she'd seen him wear before; the man obviously didn't care what kind of statement he made to the rest of the world. Stark was in a fancy tux like Steve's… but it was all white. It clashed brilliantly with everything surrounding them and passing guests eyed him warily.

"I have to say, I like Steve's better. Sorry Tony," she said.

"You've hated me from the very moment you met me!" he replied, throwing his hands up and following them. No, she didn't _hate_ Stark; but he hadn't been particularly kind to her, that was certain. Ans she'd taken note.

* * *

She could soon tell they were mostly still drunk from the mead given to them by the Dark Elves. The Midgardians really were a weak race, she supposed. None of them attempted to hide their open disgust at Zinia and Loki passionately kissing at the head of the table; her sister even had her legs draped over the lap of her new husband.

"Would you all calm down?" Anu asked them, frustrated. "It's good for Yggdrasil, it shows a strong unity!"

"Princess," Stark said with a single raised eyebrow, "You try having the most major city on your planet attacked by that guy and then tell me if you're happy about seeing him make-out with a beautiful woman and become ruler of your _entire galaxy_!"

"He's no such thing," Anu scoffed, "Nor will he. He has no power; that role is Zinia's."

Tony served her a "yeah right, let's see" look but she stopped paying him any mind. The table was an overflowing cornucopia of food.

"How does Vanaheim pay for all of this?" Steve asked, both appalled and entraced by the excess and decadence surrounding them.

"We're one of the richer realms, I suppose," she said, off-hand, not really paying attention as she served herself more wine and piled her plate high with roasted fish and greens from a plate in front of her.

"Well, if you're the complete ruling planet of an entire galaxy… were else could you possibly want your money to go?" he asked, sarcastically.

Her face scrunched in immediate disgust and understanding. He was being critical of her home! Critical of the beautiful wedding ceremony that had been planned. And he had the audacity to think they were _wasting_ something like money on these things.

"Wait," she said holding up a hand and pausing to laugh uproariously, "Wait so you think The Crimson City was built with money?"

"Didn't you yourself say you were one of the richest realms?" he asked.

"When your own ancestors came to America, they found many things. Territory, primarily. But some of them found gold," she explained, "Some of your country's first tribes were very wealthy in gold, but only to European standards. To the American tribes of the land, it was a worthless rock."

Steve nodded, beginning to understand. "So, in Vanaheim, gold and gems are just… completely abundant?"

"Completely," she responded, "Not to mention, we build everything with light magic so there's no need to hire workers. And we've certainly never even _considered_ enslaving anyone."

Her scowl with that statement seemed to be directly personally to him. He couldn't help but feel amused by the expression, though, as the idea of slavery disgusted him so deeply as well.

"In fact, Midgard is one of the only realms that tends to think of things monetarily…" she said slowly, hoping to explain herself properly. "The gold I brought with me to your realm had been specifically forged for my visit."

"So what did you mean then?" he asked, "When you said Vanaheim was rich."

"We're rich in many things," she said, "We're rich in food, which we provide to other realms in abundance. We're rich in magic, that's what allows us to create our art and architecture, and keep the realms secure. And we're rich in the natural energy that courses through the universe. It's why we are gods and you Midgardians are not."

Steve listened to her fascinated. He was suddenly sad they had spent such a short time on Vanaheim; they were leaving the next day. He'd been hesitant to leave his "realm" as Zinia would have put it, but it had certainly been an enlightening trip. There was a lot Earth could stand to learn from these other realms.

* * *

**Thanks so much to everyone giving this story a chance. "For the Nine" is a little more immediately intriguing, I think, but this is about to hit it's stride as it's own work and not just as a spin-off or additional component to the first story. For the record, though this can stand by itself, I do highly recommend you check out "For the Nine" which follows Loki and Zinia. Thanks again everyone! **


	4. Chapter 4

It was late in the day when they finally made it back to Brooklyn, first taking Mimir to Stark's tower and then dispersing slowly from there. Coming from Vanaheim and returning back to the real, grimy streets of New York was startling for all of them. And Anu was sicker than ever with homesickness.

Steve had lingered at first. Laughing with Bruce and Natasha about talk from the feast the previous evening. But she'd given him a look and he walked over to her.

"Can we please just… go home?" she asked softly.

Steve was surprised to hear her say it like that but he obliged. "Of course, I'm sure you're exhausted."

But when they got home, she'd been unable to fall asleep. She romped around his house acting depressed instead. Steve really did sleep, though. Long and hard. For Midgardians, the first few trips between realms were difficult, especially when you took Mimir. She hoped though, that the Avengers might fare better than normal Midgardians. Sure enough, the next day a sort of care package had arrived for Steve from Stark Towers. It contained an injection to get their pressure, protein, and electrolyte levels back up to normal. And also, thoughtfully, chicken soup.

Steve had already been up and about early the next morning, albeit a bit sluggish and out of it. He took the shot and, about 15 minutes later, he was back to his old self—though considerably hungry, it would seem, as he finished the container of soup within seconds.

Anu's depression from returning had been making her feel dark. She probably had the least dark magic of her sisters but the depression alone was enough to make her appear more lackluster and pale.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked her as he cleaned up the thermos of soup, purposefully busying himself in the kitchen. "You look a little sick. I know I was asleep for awhile there, I hope you didn't need anything…"

"I'm depressed," she said simply, convincing herself that a Midgardian was simply not _worth _the effort of lying to and not that she was opening up to him.

Steve too was shocked at her bluntness. "Because of… the trip? The wedding?" he ventured.

She did not answer directly. "It's bringing out the small amount of dark magic I possess. Negative feelings always do."

"What does that mean exactly?" Steve asked; he didn't like the sound of dark magic. It instantly reminded him of Loki.

"All of my sisters and I have dark magic, because we are daughters of The Spring of Mimir." she said to Steve.

"I'm sorry, I don't…"

"Our Cosmos or galaxy, the Great Tree of Yggdrasill that Midgardians call the Milky Way," she explained, "It really does have roots. And one is fed with ice from the Jotunheim, the realm of the Frost Giants. The ice melts into the Spring of Mimir on Vanaheim where all royal women go to give birth. It's also the stream we used to travel there and back."

He listened, allowing her to continue. He was able to picture what she described surprisingly well. He also remembered the enormous basin of water within a room of Vanaheim's capital palace where they had arrived in a rush of rain more like a flood.

"Zinia probably has the most dark magic of all of us," Anu continued. "My mother labored with her in Mimir for two days. The Spring is supposed to dull the pain, but not with Zinia. They were sure my mother would die; occasionally there are some wounds on Vanaheim that cannot be healed, especially if Fate steps in. But they both survived! And it's why Zinia gets all white and scary sometimes; I swear she's half Frost Giant or something."

Steve laughed, appreciating the perspective of something so fascinating and fundamental about their universe coming from a young woman who knew it intimately. It affected her much more closely than it did he. Her family _was_ their galaxy, in a sense. A root of the universe made up part of her very DNA.

"I was a quick and easy birth, barely touched by Mimir," she said, "So, unfortunately, only useless negative emotions like depression bring my dark magic out. It won't even emerge for the emotion of fear, I have so little."

Even talking like this seemed to make her more depressed. But Steve was not sure if she was done or not. And if she was, what was he supposed to make of this? Was he meant to console her? How could he even attempt to, this being the first instance she'd given him insight into her history?

"So, no," she said as if she head read his mind when she initially began this story, "My dark magic is of no threat to your realm. Have no concern."

He could hear that her voice was thick. Her eyes were watering and she seemed like she would begin to cry any moment. He made a step toward her, thinking of what he would want to hear if anything was upsetting him in such a fashion: "Hey, talk to me-" But she turned and made her way back to her room. She was much quicker than he and slipped away easily when he made an attempt to catch her. The door locked resignedly.

"Anu," he said, resting an ear against the door to try to hear her, "Come out. You _do_ have friends here, you know."

A loud, resonating kick landed on the door right where his ear was on the other side. Through the door it hurt, and he could have sworn he hear it buckle and then splinter on her side, but he managed to only mouth his "ow!"

"Fine," he said, "If you're going to be that way, be that way. I'm going to cook some dinner and invite Bruce over. If you don't join us… it will be awkward."

* * *

He knew her highborn lineage would prevent her from seeming impolite. So just mere moments before Bruce was to arrive, she emerged from the room. Steve had been cooking one of the few things he could, a classic beef stew. They'd briefly had him in the kitchens in the army and he was one of a few that could actually prepare the recipe _well_. Anu had dressed in something more appropriate. A short white skirt with scalloped trim and a low-cut black top.

"Nice to finally see you," he said, "Literally. You look very… beautiful."

She nodded her head to him, "Thank you," already unsure of what to say next. Dashing away from him earlier had left things more than slightly awkward. But, luckily, the doorbell rang and she rushed to answer it so that Steve could continue cooking.

Banner had not come alone. Tony Stark had invited himself along and insisted that Pepper join him.

"Hi, I'm so sorry," she said handing Anu three stacked take-out casserole dishes, "I made she he stopped for food since we'd be adding two more people."

"And beer!" Tony added showing three cases that he and Bruce were carrying with them.

"And wine," Pepper finished, holding up one sad bottle.

Anu smiled. "Well, welcome," she said, "I'm sure Steve won't mind at all."

"Not at all; come on in!" Steve called from the kitchen.

One thing that could not be doubted about Midgard was it's love of alcohol. And given her current state she didn't think she'd mind partaking; but she'd need something stronger. Luckily for her, she'd snuck back two flasks of the amber liquor from the elves of Svartalfheim as well as a cask of nice Sikaru, the local mead of Vanaheim. With occasional trips to her private stash, she would be able to drink away her sorrows nightly, for one night at least.

"I don't know why we don't have all of our dinners at my house," Tony said, after his fourth beer, not that he ever needed any liquid courage to be brash. "In fact, I don't know why everyone doesn't just _live_ at my house. It would be so much more convenient."

"I think your friends find it important to… to maintain a sense of autonomy," Pepper told him shortly, as if she was explaining something to a small child.

"Autonomy, psssh," he said with a laugh, "What's autonomy when your food, booze, lodgings, and even the clothes on your back are paid for?"

Pepper sighed, kneading her forehead with one hand but everyone else just looked bemused.

Anu excused herself for yet another shot from her flask in Steve's bathroom. She wasn't sure why she didn't just break it out in front of them. She certainly didn't want to share, that was one thing. And the Man of Iron would _definitely_ expect her to offer him some. But also, the fact that she _needed _to drink something stronger than what they'd made available, well… she wasn't exactly sure why but it just sort of made her seem like she had a _problem_. So she kept coming up with excuses to visit the bathroom. From what she could tell she had not drawn any attention.

* * *

"Okay, what is _up_ with her?" Tony asked jutting a thumb over his shoulder once they'd heard the door to the bathroom shut.

"What do you mean, isn't it obvious?" Bruce asked, "She broke the seal!"

Pepper laughed so hard that she almost spit out her sip of red wine onto Steve's carpet. She caught herself at the last moment and pressed a napkin to her lips.

"Broke the seal?" Steve asked.

"You know…" Pepper began to explain, "When you're out drinking and then, for _some _reason, after your first trip to the bathroom…"

"_Ohhh_," Steve said, understanding, "Guys! We don't need to talk about that! Please, you're not 15."

"Tony might as well be," Bruce said with a shrug. Tony shoved him hard enough in the shoulder to push him over a bit. "Oh, are you trying to start something? Cause I don't think you want to," Banner said, with only amusement in his voice.

"I'm actually being serious for once," Tony said, finishing his beer and opening another, "There's breaking the seal… and then there's overactive bladder syndrome."

"Maybe she has that. We don't know. We can't assume," Bruce said.

"Somehow I find it hard to believe one of the _godesses _of our galaxy has OBS," Tony argued.

"We don't know, that's all I'm saying," Bruce repeated, holding up his hands.

"It is a bit strange…" Steve noted.

"_Thank _you!" Tony said, "What should we do? We could listen at the door…" But the bathroom door clicked open. His back facing towards the direction Anu would be returning from, Tony mouthed to Steve: "Next time."

And indeed, there was a next time. After what seemed less than 15 minutes more of conversation, she excused herself again. Anu was mistakenly under the impression that the Midgardians were more intoxicated than she. But, when as drunk off of Midgardian, Vanahemian, and Svartalfheimian booze all at the same time, her impressions were liable to be considerably off.

As soon as they heard the door shut behind her, Tony was up and rounding the corner. He gestured frantically at Steve who was loathe to follow; but the idea of Tony alone listening to Anu at the bathroom door somehow seemed worse than joining him so he followed. He didn't miss the surprised look from Pepper though and, that one glance, made his stomach churn in embarrassment.

Tony was already crouching with his ear to the door. When Steve joined him, he felt like a schoolchild. But even he was surprised to hear absolutely nothing. She definitely wasn't going to the bathroom, so what on Earth _was_ she doing? Tony gave him a _"What gives?"_ sort of gesture. Steve shook his head and, before he had a second to react, Tony was turning to door handle open.

Steve toppled into the bathroom on the floor while Tony was able to enter standing. There, Anu sat perched on the edge of his bathtub holding a flask in hand.

"How _dare_ you?" she started but Tony interjected.

"Wait, wait, wait… don't even start!" he said, "You should have locked the door."

"Steve? Really?" she asked incredulously.

"We were worried!" he said, pushing himself off the tile floor.

"He was. I was curious," Tony said, and yanked the flask from her grasp, "Is this what you've been doing? Holding out of the booze?" He unscrewed the cap and gave it a cautious sniff, tossing it back into her hands and reeling backwards after realizing what it was. "That elf shit? You still have that?"

"Well your Midgardian drinks simply don't accomplish enough!" she defended.

"You don't drink to get wasted!" Tony scolded, "You drink to… well, I don't know. Maybe you're right, actually."

By this time, Pepper and Bruce were looking around the corner. Upon seeing her embarrassment and distress, Pepper made a move to pull Tony out but stopped when she herself smelled the liquor in Anu's flash.

"What _is_ that? It smells toxic!"

Anu held her face in her hands melodramatically; this was exactly what she'd hoped to avoid.

"Anu," it was Dr. Banner, "Why are you drinking that?"

She was really drunk, she must have been to say: "I'm depressed!"

And so, even Tony on his best behavior, they led her out of the bathroom to hear what she had to say.

"I can understand missing your home," Pepper said finally, "It sounds like _someone_ hasn't done the best job helping make New York your _new_ home." She finished the statement with a pointed look at Steve.

"What? I took her shopping for stuff for the apartment!"

"To learn to love New York she needs to actually _see _the city, beyond your apartment windows, Steve!" she admonished, "Take her to some of the museums."

* * *

So, the next morning, Steve did take her out of the apartment.

"Where are we going?" she asked, for maybe the fiftieth time as they walked along the blocks of the city. Steve had tried to tell her it was a surprise but, after last night, Anu knew that he was probably taking her to a museum.

"_Fine_," he said with exasperation, "The Metropolitan Museum of Art. That's where we're going."

Anu startled him by throwing her arms around his neck in the middle of their walk. Slowly he wrapped his own arms about her waist. "I _adore_ art," she said while still embracing him, "Thank you, so much."

Her reaction alone was enough to send him into a spiral of guilt. He really should have done this sooner.

"You're welcome," was all he answered her with, though.

* * *

She'd impatiently pulled him to the section of the museum with art from Ancient Rome, explaining her mother had married a Midgardian from Ancient Rome. Her father, Deus, having gone through the painful trial of immortality, barely remembered his old life but Anu had always found whatever bits of memory he had left fascinating.

The two of them walked closely together, admiring marble busts and sculptures. Steve was glad he'd finally found a friend who could enjoy the past as much as he did. Everyone else, these days, seemed to care much more for whatever was coming next.

They approached a table encased in glass that was displaying old Roman currency. Each coin was engraved with the profile of a famous historical figure. And then she saw one she recognized…

"That's myfather!" she said, pointing enthusiastically to a coin. A visitor next to her looked at them with raised eyebrows. "I mean, that _looks _like my father."

Steve read the information displayed next to the coin and lead Anu away by the elbow so he could speak with her more privately. "_Your_ father is Mark Antony?" he asked, incredulous.

"Well, he used to be. Now's he's Deus of Vanaheim."

"Your father is basically a legend in this country!" Steve told her.

"_Really?_ Oh, he'll be so pleased to hear that! How does everyone know him?"

"Well there are some very famous works in which he plays a role, this film-"

"There's a _film_, about my father?" she asked him, alarmed and excited all at once.

"Forget about the movie!" Steve told her, excited as well, "Shakespeare wrote an entire play! Now Shakespeare was around even before I was froze-"

"-Yes, yes! I know who _Shakespeare_ is, you simpleton. Trust me, the Vanir and Aesir pay attention to your geniuses far more closely than _you _do."

"Well, maybe before Nick Fury was around-"

She interrupted again, simply too excited to listen to him very long. "-I never knew he wrote a play on my father… do you think we can go see it?"

"I guess we can see if anyone is staging a production anywhere nearby but, if not, you'll have to read it I suppose," he said.

"The movie! Can we procure the film?"

"Yeah we can grab it now, I'm sure. Let's go," he replied, still astounded himself at how easily accessible everything was these days.

* * *

**For any readers also on "For the Nine," these stories are concurrent but, chapter to chapter, they don't always cohesively line up. These events are still marginally behind where "For the Nine," is. And, as usual, if you haven't read it, give it a try! It's gotta a hefty dose of Marvel-comics-canon for extra shenanigans beyond what the movies gave us to work with.**

**I'd love to hear what you all think! Thanks again to everyone who gave this a read!**


	5. Chapter 5

Deus's legacy as Mark Antony on Midgard troubled Anu for a number of reasons. Primarily, it was troubling that the citizens of this realm preferred the fictional accounts of his life as opposed to the very real, very exciting ones. But, secondarily, this was the first time she'd heard of this _Cleopatra_, and Anu did not like her.

In theory. Anu did not like her in theory. Another woman besides her own mother? She was loathe to admit she'd studied little of her father's legacy—he certainly could not tell her, so far gone was that old life—but, from what Steve was recounting to her, Cleopatra had been quite the bewitching siren.

The 1963 film of _Cleopatra_ had not been as easy to locate in New York as Steve had expected. So he called Clint for his advice, not trusting any answer Tony might give him. But Clint _did_ laugh before he then told him that he and Natasha would meet him at his place in Brooklyn.

"You use the _Internet_, man!" Clint explained, pulling out his own laptop when they all settled down in Steve's living room, "You just download it!"

"Sure…" Steve said, realizing he should have remembered that but also realizing whenever he needed to "download" something, he typically had ample trouble doing so.

And so, Anu was introduced to Elizabeth Taylor.

"She's _beautiful_," Anu breathed out, scooting closer to the TV.

"Yes, she is," Steve and Clint answered, practically in unison.

Natasha snorted. "Please," she said, "Beauty isn't everything. I mean, she was friends with Michael _Jackson_, of all people."

"Hey!" Clint said, pointing defensively, "He made great music!" Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Who's Michael Jackson?" Anu asked.

"Oh lord," Clint put a hand to his forehead. "It's like Steve all over again! Except we're _still_ dealing with Steve. I mean, _downloading_ a movie?"

"Please," Natasha added.

"Please!" Clint echoed.

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden!" Steve said, laughing because he knew they were, mostly, joking.

Anu was so distracted by Elizabeth Taylor, that she almost entirely missed the plot points relevant to her father.

"I think I may need to rewatch it," she said.

"Eh, well, it's not really what you'd call… historically accurate. It's pretty much for entertainment. That's true even of the Shakespeare play."

Anu decided she'd have to try to jog her father's memory the next time she was invited to Vanaheim.

It was still early when Clint and Natasha packed up to go and, on their way out, Anu was surprised by yet another invitation from Natasha.

"So, I'm going into Manhattan, would you like to come with me?" she offered, "I know Steve's doing his best to show you around but, even if he wasn't half a century behind modern times, he'd still be a man showing you around…"

Anu pounced on the opportunity for some female interaction and they were out the door.

Parting ways with Clint at a subway stop, the women were free to talk.

"I have to express to you my gratitude," Anu said, "I am used to having half a dozen sisters and my handmaidens around nearly all the time."

"I figured," Natasha said, "This isn't something I tell many people… I'm not even sure I've said so to Clint, but I had a lot of female friends when I still lived in Russia. And I'm glad I'm out but… there are only so many women in SHIELD and I work almost _all_ the time, so if I want friends they have to be co workers."

Natasha was being open and honest so Anu decided to be too. "I admit, you didn't strike me as the type of person to even care about much outside of work."

She sighed, "I suppose where you're from, where women have the upper hand in society, you haven't had to face this problem. But on Midgard, and especially in America, when you work in a field dominated by men you can't _ever_ show weakness. And most emotions, of any kind, are labeled as weakness."

"That's very sad," Anu replied, realizing with increasing horror that she too was now working in the same environment, "Perhaps that's why Fury has been unwilling to accept me into the fold?"

"Fury doesn't discriminate against women as far as I can tell," Natasha said, "Especially not when they're goddesses. And as far as emotion goes, you may have shown us a surprising amount in private but you've been almost too stoic around Fury."

"Why do you say surprising?" she asked.

"Thor, Loki, your sister… you, when you're at our meetings with Fury," Natasha said, "You all act as if the problems of your realms are so far above ours… our human insecurities seem weak in comparison."

"Well, the truth of the matter is," Anu explained, "We're alive _so_ much longer… I think, maybe, we spend even more time mulling over our insecurities and personal problems. So yes, we get a lot better at hiding them; but we also need to let go of them a lot more."

"And I've been so homesick," she continued, "And most of you have been so welcoming and nice, I just _wanted _to let my thoughts out to all of you. Sometimes my sisters tell me to stop whining about my problems, they think me the spoiled baby of the family… but none of you have those preconceptions."

Natasha nodded thoughtfully; Anu really did feel like she was talking to… well, none of her sisters were like Natasha, but like she was talking to one of several of her good friends that became handmaidens. Natasha was by no means a handmaiden; but on Vanaheim, being offered a position by the royal Vanir family was a great honor. It payed very well for very little work, receiving the position was a sign that you were a trusted advisor and potential battlemate.

When they arrived to Manhattan, Natasha asked if there was anything she could think of that she'd like to do.

"Well, honestly?" Natasha nodded, so Anu continued, "Do you think there's anything on Midgard that could make me look like Cleopatra?"

"Like… the one we just watched?" Anu nodded. "Everything?" Anu nodded again. "Well I guess, first, we should go get your hair done."

An hour later, Anu walked out a new woman. A very silly looking woman, Natasha thought, but also a new one. She'd died her previously strawberry blonde hair a dark black, a cosmologist even used some makeup to darken her brows. The black was fine, Anu actually looked quite nice with black hair.

But, in an effort to go full-on Cleopatra, Anu had also insisted on the top layer of her hair being braided into cornrows, beaded at the ends. In combination with Anu's new clothes from Saks… the combination was quite jarring. But Anu seemed to think nothing of it and picked up a number or brightly colored MAC eyeshadows from the cosmetologist so she could recreate the look.

"It will look better with my clothes from Vanaheim," she thought out loud.

"Sure, but your clothes from Vanaheim don't look exactly normal," Natasha reminded her gently.

"That man is walking around naked," Anu said pointing to man in the middle of the street with nothing but a guitar covering his lower half.

"You know what? You're right," Natasha said. "This is New York, you can walk around however the hell you want."

* * *

Anu was _really_ starting to like Cleopatra. Or Elizabeth Taylor. Or both? Both.

She discovered from Natasha that Cleopatra had valiantly killed herself _with a snake_ to avoid being shown-about as a prize by her captors; what Anu wouldn't give to go to Helheim and speak with the Egyptian Queen. For a Midgardian, she was so badass!

Natasha had left her at the subway, encouragingly, to let her find her own way home. And she did! With relative ease! She even knew exactly which stop she was supposed to exit on and which side of the train platform to wait on. If Tony had been there, he would have mocked the achievement, but traveling in Midgard took many more steps than it did on Vanaheim. The subway was a lot more complicated than simply summoning the icy showers of Mimir. Either way, though, there was always the possibility of getting wet. The wetness of the subway just happened to be particularly unpleasant.

When she got back to Steve's apartment she found herself at a loss of what to do next. She did not have a key, as she had never ventured out with Steve before. Would it be unlocked? What if she turned the handle and it jiggled and Steve thought she was weird? But it seemed very strange to have to knock on the door of… her own home? Was that what this was now? Everything about being here was so very confusing. Now she remembered why she'd been so willing to stay cooped up in Steve's apartment when she first arrived.

After overthinking it for another minute, Anu finally knocked. A very confused Steve answered but his expression returned to normal upon seeing her. "Oh, you didn't have to knock," he said.

"_Ugh!_" Anu cried in frustration and forced her way past him.

"What did you do to your hair?" he asked, voice rising as he followed her.

She swung around to fix a pointed glare in his direction.

"It looks great!" he added, "It really does! I was just surprised, I swear."

Without batting an eye — well, okay, actually _by_ batting an eye — Anu's outfit transformed into a cream chiffon toga, thrown together with some broaches to look very much like Elizabeth Taylor's wardrobe indeed.

Finally seeing the full effect, Steve had to admit it looked a lot less silly. She actually looked very attractive. Steve found his thoughts beginning to drift, but he stopped himself short.

"That is… definitely nice looking," he said.

Anu rolled her eyes and turned back towards her bedroom. "Natasha said I could wear it. She said people wear whatever they want in New York."

"Natasha w-what? She what?" But she closed the door to her bedroom. _"Natasha," _he hissed to himself and grabbed his phone.

* * *

Later, still dressed up, she came out to give him the silent treatment. Steve was determined to be the grown up in this situation, so he ordered in chicken parmesan and served it out onto separate plates. He put one in front of her and, finally, she let the sullen act slide.

She smiled up at him. "Wine?"

"Sure, I'll grab it."

A couple of glasses in and she was, surprisingly, feeling tipsy. Maybe simply being on Midgard lowered one's tolerance.

"I just think she's an _amazing _woman," Anu said, while Steve pressed her on the Cleopatra thing, "She sailed her own Navies alongside my father! Like my own mother would."

She took another sip of her wine before adding, "And Elizabeth Taylor has _purple_ eyes."

Steve laughed. "Why don't you just want to look like yourself?"

"My life was boring on Vanaheim," she said, sighing, "Apparently it's boring here too."

As Steve was about to respond, Anu began to tremble. It steadily became more and more violent but she did not look alarmed. She put out a hand towards him, "It's okay-" But she passed out on the ground, still shaking violently. Steve dropped beside her immediately, sure she was having a seizure.

Abruptly, she stopped. Her eyes opened and, though a bit sweaty, she looked normal. "Sorry, I never warned you!" she said, "My family is one of seers, I had a vision."

Suddenly she was aware of their position. She was flat on the ground by his kitchen table. He was more pressed onto her than hovering over her; he'd put his face close to look at her eyes and let himself stall. He was gripping her right hand in his own. They both paused like that for a few seconds.

Finally, "A vision? You're okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, and began to push herself up. Immediately he scooped her into her arms. "No, I'm _really _fine. Trust me, this happens pretty frequently, I just wasn't prepared."

He set her on the couch. "Hey, bring me my wine!" she demanded.

He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her. "So, what was the vision?"

"I am to report to Vanaheim," she said, "My sister wants a report on my time in Midgard."

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear about all the shopping," Steve joked.

She punched his arm, "Hey!"

He caught her fist to pull her to him and tickled her under her arm. She laughed but, then Steve realized how close she was and dropped his hold on her like he'd been scalded.

_She's just like a little sister to you…_ he told himself, _You're, hundreds-of-years-older little sister. _

"Well, we can't go tomorrow," he said, thinking quickly to avoid the chance of awkwardness entirely.

"There's no need to, but why?" she asked.

"Training at Stark Towers," he said, "He's got some new designs for us. We need to find _flaws_."

"Sounds fun," she said with a laugh and rose for bed.

It had all ended as simply as that? So were they both imagining things? Anu alternately found Steve to be an annoying chaperone and the most enticing man she'd ever met. It was quite frustrating.

* * *

The next day at Stark Towers, they discovered Jarvis to be doing the _real_ training. Tony was sitting around making cocktails while they all took individual goes at a set of automatic tracking guns. Anu volunteered to go first, it would give her something to talk about with the others when she returned. She didn't often find points in common with the Midgardians when they collected in a large group like that; she was always left the odd-man out.

As soon as she was out, they all started in on Steve. "You _like_ her!" Bruce said, laughing.

"What? You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Please, you were watching her the whole time she was in the room. Jarvis, confirm," Tony commended.

"_Tracking Mr. Rogers eye movements while Lady Anu was present… data shows that he watched her 94% of the time she was present," _Jarvis answered.

Steve blushed furiously.

"Well, not _all_ the time then, but, you know," Tony said, popping some bar nuts into his mouth, "So, she's living with you? What's the hold up?"

"She's effectively only 18," Steve said. "That's what she told me… Vanaheim to Earth years wise. But she _seems_ even younger than that."

"She probably is," Bruce said, "Teens always talk up there age."

"Just wait till she hits whatever age puts her in her 30s; she'll be telling everyone _'Oh I'm only 970!'_" Tony said, "However long _that_ aging process will take. Actually, I doubt you'll even be around then."

This broached an entirely _new_ set of issues that Steve had not even considered. So he was in his 90s _technically_, but he was really still just in his 20s. He'd be dead in much, much less than 100 years while Anu still had _millennia _ahead of her.

"I don't know what I'm going to do guys," Steve said, putting his head in his hands.

"Ah just get it over with and sleep with her!" Tony admonished.

"Thanks, Tony," Steve said and stood up to walk out, "Your advice is always _extremely_ valuable."

* * *

Anu broke the Stark equipment with ease. It wasn't even fun. Like trying to play with a child's rattle… one gust of energy and… poof. Jarvis assured her they had backups. She was in the room for less than a minute and met Steve in the halls.

"It's all yours," she said, "Not a very good game."

"Thanks," was all he said with a hearty thump on her shoulder.

She turned to watch him walk away, a distinct frown on her face. That was odd. She was sure he'd used the same display of affection before, but only with men. She'd been trying to study the habits of Midgardians but every time she thought she had them figured out they did something to throw her off. She shrugged and walked back to the main room.

More to Tony's amusement than to his surprise, Anu flopped down onto the couch of his main room after her go at his weapons in a similar state of despair.

"So, how'd it go?" Tony asked.

"He's being all weird and distant…" Anu said, completely zoned out still.

"Okay, wow! _I_ was asking about the weapons but…"

"Oh!" Anu said with a startled jump and a very noticeable blush. "Well, maybe I just don't understand Midgardian manners yet…" she said trying, and failing, to explain off her behavior. Tony interrupted her attempt.

"The problem with you and Cap," Tony began, swinging around his bar with a martini in each hand, "Is that you're both basically high schoolers when it comes to romance."

"High schoolers?" she asked.

"_Young_ and inexperienced," he said, and handed her a glass, "Which, _I know_, is weird to say since you're both considerably older than me. But Steve's last experience with a woman was in the 40s. Things were different back then, slower."

"I'm not unexperience with men," Anu defended with an exaggerated eye roll, "I was the last of the sisters of Vanir, my parents _rarely_ looked after what I was doing." She swiged the martini down in one go after that statement. She wished she could retroactively give herself courage.

"There's a difference between sleeping with someone and actually _liking_ them," Natasha added.

"And you look _just_ young enough," Tony began, patronizingly pointing a speared olive from his drink in her direction, "In Vanahemian years, of course, to be in the midst of your first crush. Aw, how cute!"

Anu rolled her eyes again, realizing that she was probably simply confirming their attitudes towards her. Well, at least she'd be returning to Vanaheim tomorrow. Alone. A break from these Midgardians, even the very nice ones, would be welcome. And her feelings still made since on Vanaheim.

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed! Please subscribe because this story hasn't even hit it's adventure stride yet; things are going to get a lot crazier. **

**And if you like this check out "For the Nine," my Loki fic. Loki demands coronation, he meets the Queen of Svartalfheim, and learns what it takes to be a good ruler! Exciting things all the time! **


	6. Chapter 6

Anu arose early the next morning, draped herself in furs, and prepared to call forth Mimir. She was standing in the shower of Steve's apartment. Summoning Mimir meant summoning a fairly torrential waterfall, though it luckily remained confined to one spot.

But then, suddenly the Captain was yanking back the curtain of the shower.

"What in _Helheim_ are you _doing_?" she said and slapped him smartly across the mouth.

Once again tricked by her small stature, Steve forgot she had the strength of a goddess and let out an "Ow!" when he felt the sting on his face. "_You _left the bathroom door open! And that water wasn't running!"

It was now that she noticed Steve was in his full regalia. "Wait a minute," she said, "What exactly do you think is happening here?"

"You're going back to Vanaheim to report to Zinia," he said, "And I'm coming with you. Fury's orders."

"No you are _not!_"

"Fury's. Orders," he repeated and got into the shower with her. She tried not to let it show when her breath hitched. He towered over her in the tiny space. "And may I remind you, he's _your_ boss too."

"Psssh," she scoffed (Fury was _not_ her boss) but raised her hands in concentration to summon the Spring anyway. Steve had told her on their last trip that his suit could withstand the cold and it had. Water gushed down and they were off.

* * *

After they arrived, Anu was hit rapidfire with a string of unwelcome surprises. Well, with one very welcome surprise.

"What do you mean she _isn't here?_" Anu asked, appalled as she prepared to be presented to Zinia. She'd just been informed Zinia was pregnant. She was the last to know by a couple of weeks. It made her mad that she'd been left out and forgotten yet again, but she was also very excited at the prospect of having a new nephew. Her sister had had her own vision, like most Vanir mothers, letting her know the gender of the child.

"She's n-not here, Princess," a shaking guard responded, no one like to deal with the Vanir Royals when they were angry, "She and the Prince Loki have continued on their progress to Svartalfheim."

"_Ugh!" _she responded, in typical fashion and shoved her way past him and into the throne room, not waiting for a proper entrance. There should have been plenty of time for someone to inform her of this before she made the trip between realms. Now she had to look out for Steve for several days! Granted he had to look after her 24/7 on Earth… but that was different!

They strode into the throne room—well, she did; Steve walked calmly—where her remaining three sisters were lined up: Nanshe, Essure, and Kia. Nanshe and Essure, the fish and the bird… a pair even though Essure was now separated from her twin, Thor's wife Enir. Kia was the goddess of the Earth, not in the sense of Midgard but in the sense of land. Kia had spent most of her time outdoors on Vanaheim and wasn't overly close to any of her sisters, much like Anu. Anu was the goddess of heaven amongst them. Her sisters used to joke that's why her head was perpetually in the clouds and she was always out of the loop. Really it was because she was so young her older sisters didn't care to make sure she kept up.

Still they looked pleased to see her and, overall, she was to see them as well. The Vanir considered resentment and bitterness to be beneath them and, in that sense, Anu had felt she'd inherited too many of her father's Midgardian flaws. Her parents had returned to their old thrones side by side. Her father beamed as she approached but her mother's face wore a pained grimace.

"You're dressed like _her_," Iluti cried upon seeing Anu. She had to admit she was surprised. She had been copying Elizabeth Taylor more than the real Cleopatra; but apparently the approximation was close enough.

Her father looked at her outfit with vague familiarity. "Dressed like whom? She looks lovely!"

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Is this your way of rebelling?"

"I wasn't _trying_ to dress like _her_, mother, there's an actress on Midgard-"

"I don't _care_, just change your hair!"

"Father I discovered your name! Mark Antony! Do you remember a woman named Cleopatra?" she asked.

"Cleopatra… Cleo… No, darling, I can't say that I do. But Antony, yes that sounds familiar," he said.

"He won't remember Anu, just change your hair back!" her mother demanded again.

Anu rolled her eyes and her strawberry blonde locks morphed through the black braids and beads.

"You could always change it _back_?" Steve asked abruptly, so stunned that he momentarily forgot to be polite, "I thought you had to keep it like that until it grew out! Of course!"

"It is good to see the Soldier Out of Time with you," Iluti said gesturing to Steve, finally easing into a pleasanter tone, "Welcome back Captain of America!"

"Uh… thank you?" Steve said, baffled by both the statement and the name confusion. Did her parents think he commanded all of the United States?

Anu meanwhile also cocked her head inquisitively. Perhaps her mother was simply being polite… but something about the greeting had a hidden layer.

"I will meet with you later during your trip to take notes for Zinia," her mother continued, "But I would also like you to meet with your sisters while you are here to educate them on your trip so far too. I hope you planned to stay a few days."

"Erm," she glanced at Steve who didn't look perturbed. "No three days or so should be alright."

"Fantastic," her mother said with a stiff smile. Maybe she didn't want Steve here after all; who could gage her mother's mood? Anu was particularly sensitive to all of her mother's subtleties but unable to figure them out like most of her sisters. Deus was much more straight forward.

"You'll have new rooms of course, as an Ambassador of Vanaheim," her father said, "It would be silly to make you share with your sisters."

Anu was not too secretly glad of this. She curtseyed in thanks and servants arrived to lead them to their apartments.

"What did she mean by _that?_" Anu asked as they exited the throne room.

"Um, you're gonna have to be a little more specific," Steve said. A great many things had just been discussed.

"Good to see _you_ with me? What does that _mean?_"

Steve, at first, didn't reveal he'd picked up on the peculiarity of her mother's tone. "I think she was just being polite," he said.

"No," Anu concluded almost immediately, "The way she said it…"

Steve came to a stop and pulled her aside into an alcove; Anu looked around them for privacy.

"Do you remember, at your sister's wedding, when I said I ran into Loki?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, nodding.

"He said something…" Steve began, "That Zinia had _arranged_ for you to live with me."

"But that's not what happened! No one else could-"

"-_Would_." Steve interrupted her gently.

Anu mulled it over her eyes widening. "Did he say anything else?"

"Um, that she thought I might… _mellow you out?_"

"_Ugh! I _hate_ her!" _Anu fumed, rubbing her temples. "Who knows if she's up to more than that or not?"

"I suspect she is, now that Loki is her husband," Steve said.

"I didn't think she could be manipulated by someone like him…" she said.

"That's what he tends to be best at," Steve said, "But don't worry, we'll figure it out."

* * *

Early the next morning, Anu was beginning to feel like a prisoner. When she had still lived on Vanaheim, she typically rose with her sisters before sunrise to channel the forthcoming energy of the day into channeling visions. The Vanir tried to strengthen the power of their crafts as much as possible.

Steve was in no way required to accompany her, but he did. In fact, she had specifically asked him _not _to come. It was a very private experience, even if none of them had a vision. And this would be her first ritual from home since Zinia's wedding.

"You better sit back, _far away_, and not say _anything!_" she said pointing at him emphatically. They were walking through the ruby red halls of the palace in the dark blue of the early morning. The last remaining shreds of moonlight cast through the windows to make the walls glow a subtle amethyst.

"I _won't_," Steve promised. Fury only wanted to make sure that Anu didn't discuss anything about SHEILD or any other aspects of Earth's military capabilities. It's something Steve knew would never even occur to Anu because it was information the Vanir would find useless. He'd come to understand that they really did find his world something to protect. And while the distinct feeling of "ownership" bothered him a great deal, it also instilled a basic level of trust.

They swung open the doors to a great outdoor balcony. Her three sisters were already waiting for her, sitting crosslegged across from one another, a space waiting for her between them.

"You used to be the first one here to these," Nanshe teased.

"I've rather adjusted to the Midgardian sleep cycle," Anu admitted, "It's rather strange sleeping daily but now I'm stuck." She shrugged.

Steve took up a post by the door, not going any farther after the fuss Anu had made. Anu sat down between her sisters and took Nanshe and Kia's hands. The sisters didn't even close their eyes; Steve had been expecting something like a prayer circle. Instead they all simply looked out over the floating mountains that surrounded their city, waiting for the sun to rise.

As it did, a very visible shift came over the sisters. At first it seemed to be a trick of the rising light; they look like they glowed from within. But it quickly became apparent that they were, in fact, glowing. Centered just about where their hearts would reside a golden orb brightened within them. And then Anu fell into a fit of tell-tale tremors.

They wracked her violently and Steve had to bite the inside of his cheek not to call out to her and use all of his considerable willpower to rush over. The other sisters appeared to be having visions too, but they manifested themselves in different forms. Nanshe and Essure had just fallen into a deep trance, eyes open, fogged over and glassy, mouths partially agape. Kia's chin lowered onto her own chest; she appeared to have passed out in a narcoleptic nap.

It only lasted a few moments; before the sun had even come close to rising fully the sisters snapped awake. They glowing gold clicked off like a light switch. Their hands were still clasped, but much more tightly. Eyes wide, they exchanged scared glances before Kia finally let out a bark of a sob.

"What _happened _to her? Where is she!?" the girl shrieked.

"We must find mother," Essure said, standing first, obviously trying very hard to wear a veil of composure.

Steve remained by the door, he was staring at Anu _hard_, trying to decipher what had just happened and what he should do. Nanshe had risen with Essure only to begin pacing. Kia's head was in her hands on the floor. Anu remained seated as well but she didn't display any emotion besides a deep concentration. Her brow was furrowed and she chewed the corner of her lip.

"Anu," he said finally, "What's going on? What did you see?"

All four sisters looked at him startled, only now remembering him. Anu finally stood up, still chewing her lip and awkwardly flattening the wrinkles in her dress, desperate to focus on something else so she wouldn't cry. But she looked up to meet his eyes.

"My sister Zinia…" she began, "She's _gone_."

* * *

In her parents private chambers, the sisters became more free with their weeping. Except for Anu who paced back and forth as her mother rattled off her thoughts.

"I do not think she is dead my daughters," Iluti said, "It appears that Alflyse turned the core of Svartalfheim into a form of transportation between realms."

Steve didn't have any idea what they were talking about really, still. But he was just happy they hadn't kicked him out. He'd have had a hell of a time standing up to that many goddesses. Sometimes he thought Black Widow would have been better suited for the trip. In any case, he was more concerned about Anu. Her reaction seemed peculiar compared to her sisters.

Svartalfheim, he remembered from Zinia and Loki's wedding, was one of the Nine Realms of their Milky Way—er, _Yggdrasil_, as they all called it. They had shared very, very strong liquor with the Dark Elves from that realm that had joined the celebration. He didn't know they had a queen—why wasn't she at the wedding?—but apparently they did and she had sucked Zinia into the core of her planet. Or realm. Or something. He was only partially able to follow the whole discussion and it all sounded very far fetched but, given everything he'd already seen in his life, not to mention surviving decades frozen, he was game to wait for Anu to explain it to him.

"What about Loki?" Anu asked finally.

His thoughts stopped abruptly and he became hyper aware of the tension within the room. They were mad at the God of Mischief for something. But, _who wasn't? _Steve asked himself.

"He didn't save her! He didn't even _try_," Kia sobbed to herself. Everyone appeared to ignore her.

"We need to get both of them back, it is true," Iluti mused, "But we cannot risk starting a civil war. We cannot let them know the attacks come from Vanaheim."

"Thor? He is bound to another of our daughters," Anu's father chimed in, "The Aesir have a great army I am told."

"An attack from the Aesir will look exactly the same," Iluti said, "An attack at all, really… but we can't just do _nothing_."

"We need something more covert," Anu said, looking up at her parents. She stopped in her pacing. Steve could see her stance become more resolute. "We need The Avengers."

It was a statement said with a good deal of drama, Steve thought, for someone who hadn't even asked the singular Avenger with her at the moment. Then again, he thought, she was one of them now. But still, Thor knew they stuck to Earth. Any business outside of 'Midgard' would have fallen solely under his own purview.

She did finally offer him a glance and, in the same moment, her parents and sisters looked back to him.

"_Midgardians?" _her mother asked.

"Considering you married one," Anu answered shortly, "I think you know they can be quite capable. And these Midgardians are the best of the best, some of them godlike; and their technology has advanced considerably since the last time _you _visited."

Steve didn't know Anu's mother well enough to be able to predict how she would receive this direct challenge of authority. Still, he was surprised all the same when she gave Anu a simple nod of admission and understanding.

"Captain," Iluti said, "Would your team be interested in assisting us?"

"Well, um, Your Highness," he began awkwardly, "I-I'm not sure. The Avengers typically only involve themselves in matters that involve Earth."

"This involves Earth a great deal," she replied, standing up, "If our daughter is not returned to us safely, there _will_ be civil war between the realms of Yggdrasil. And I can promise you that _if_ that happens, protecting Earth will not be our greatest priority."

"I think you'll find," Deus added, "That even a team of the greatest talent on Midgard, god-like or not, won't stand much chance in such a war. Your realm will be overtaken an appropriated for the use of the Dark Elves at best. At worst…"

"Anu, you are to return to Midgard immediately," her mother said, "Provide The Avengers with a full report. You can tell them earnestly that we are asking for their help. Once you have their answer… you can report back and we'll proceed from there either way."

"Yes mother," Anu said with a short curtsey and gestured for Steve to follow her from the room. No time for goodbyes of any sort, apparently.

They head for the basin that caught Mimir in the palace to travel back to Earth. Striding through the hallways Steve asked: "So do you have a minute to explain to me what is going on exactly?"

"You'll hear soon enough," she said, "We're going straight to Fury."

Just a few moments after Mimir had swept them away, Loki returned, bruised and beaten but resolute.

* * *

No problem, Fury had wanted them straight back anyway for a full report from Steve. So they took Mimir back to Stark tower rather than Steve's apartment. But, not knowing the layout of Stark Tower _quite_ as well… Anu accidentally transported them right into Tony's bedroom. And it appeared that he and Pepper were right on the verge of becoming intimate.

As always, with a rush of water, they landed on a bear-skin rug right next to the bed. The water splashed upwards onto a screaming Pepper. She was attempting to hide herself beneath the sheets, but not succeeding terribly well as the sheets were now wet.

"_Holy what now?" _Tony yelled, not at all embarrassed about his lack of clothing but surprised nonetheless.

"I'm sorry," Anu started immediately but Tony interrupted.

"Of _all_ the places? _Really?_"

"I'm sorry it's an emergency!"

She rushed out, Steve close behind but still shouting apologies himself over his shoulder and shielding his eyes from Pepper. She pulled him through the halls, looking for Fury's quasi-office now that SHIELD was (mostly) still broken apart.

When she finally reached it, she burst through the door, not caring when she was met by the barrell of a gun pressing against her forehead.

"Bad move," Fury said, "You wanna take it back?"

"I'm not attacking you!" she spat at him, "Ease up."

"Captain," Fury acknowledged, glancing over her head, "I thought I told you I wanted to meet _just_ you when you got back?"

"There's an emergency!" Anu pleaded.

"She's telling the truth," Steve confirmed and Fury finally lowered his weapon.

"Fine, come in. You _still_ should have knocked!"

Anu spent the next hour parceling out every detail to the confused Midgardians. They had seen Zinia with Loki on her Royal Progress through Yggdrasil, she was in the realm of Svartalfheim where she met the Queen Alflyse. The queen of the Dark Elves was mad about something, from what they could gather the fact that Thor had been married off to one of Anu's other sisters instead of herself. Zinia had been forcibly _sucked _into another realm by Alflyse's magic and Loki was now the Dark Queen's prisoner.

"She _sucked_ your sister into another realm?" Fury asked, just to make sure he'd heard the goddess correctly, "Using the _core_ of her planet?"

"More or less…" Anu confirmed, "That's the only way I can think to describe what I saw in the vision, anyway."

"And where, exactly, do you think she's been taken to?"

Anu bit her lower lip, willing her tears not to fall. They'd not discussed on Vanaheim because they all knew. The Vanir women were always able to maintain a general sense of where the others were located. Had they all been spread out on Midgard, they would probably be able to feel the exact cities the others were in but nothing beyond that. After Zinia disappeared in their vision, they'd all lost their sense of her in their hearts. That could only mean one thing.

"She's in Helheim," Anu said.

"_Hell?" _both Steve and Fury answered in unison.

"If she's in hell then, pardon me if I'm being insensitive but… how the _hell_ are we supposed to bring her back?" Fury asked.

"The living can survive in Helheim," Anu said, "The Goddess Hel herself has to, after all. Helheim is merely a region within Niffleheim… a wasteland abandoned except for monsters that roam in. It is easy to get to Niffleheim, harder to find Helheim itself once you're there…"

"Again, even if we were to offer our assistance, how would we be able to help?"

"The Aesir… Thor," she corrected herself, "Can use the Bifrost to get to Helheim directly. Otherwise, we can use Mimir to travel to Niffleheim and I can lead us to Hel."

"Yes, there's the sticking point for me," Fury said sitting up lacing his fingers together before setting his hands in front of him, "Why would I want to send my Avengers straight into Hel?"

"We need a covert mission to get Zinia back. A direct attack will start a civil war between the realms of our galaxy… trust me, it is better for Midgard to avoid the possibility entirely."

Steve knew Fury wasn't an idiot. He'd gotten detailed reports of the alien life in the Milky Way from Natasha after the wedding. He was likely planning something, as a result of the reports, to serve as a layer of extra protection for Earth. But it was unlikely whatever that plan was, was ready this quickly. Fury let a deep exhale, longer than a frustrated sigh. He was deep in thought.

"Who do you need?" he asked finally.

"Really?" Anu asked, looking to Steve in excitement, "I mean- I think that would be a tactic best discussed with my parents in Vanaheim."

"I'm hesitant to send my whole team with you given everything you've just explained," Fury said.

"Earth had never been safer," she assured him, "Everyone of any potential threat to Earth in all of Yggdrasil will know what's going on by now. No one will make any moves until it's clear how Vanaheim is responding. And as long as this mission stays protected, everyone will continue to wait."

Fury nodded and held out his hand for her to shake. "I expect to stay informed."

"Of course," she said, "And the whole of Vanaheim thanks you. _I _thank you. We will not forget that Midgard helped us in our time of need."

* * *

That evening, Fury gave The Avengers a private rundown. She'd tried to summon Thor, but he never appeared. Eventually they gave up and proceeded without him. Fury's condition for helping her was that some of The Avengers would have their own various assignments when traveling off-world again. Assignments she was not privy too.

So Anu stepped off to the side to view New York's evening skyline from outside, high up on one of the tower's balconies. Eventually, Steve was dismissed from the rest of the group and he joined her. He propped his forearms on the balcony, bending over slightly to be more at her level while they both took in the view.

"Anu," he began gently, "You know, that was really impressive today… how you held up."

She shrugged. "I'm an Ambassador for Vanaheim now, not just a daughter. It's part of my job to help strategize when something threatens Yggdrasil."

"But everyone would have understood…" he said, not sure how to complete the thought. "She's your sister. I know you must be worried."

In private here on one of Tony's balconies during the evening, in a strange parallel to that morning, his kindness struck her deeply. Her lip trembled and he immediately pulled her to him. Wrapped in a hug she finally let herself cry.

"I _am_ worried," she admitted, "And after I spent all day yesterday being _so mad_ at her, for leaving before I arrived… for being the last to know she was pregnant. Now I just want her back."

There was nothing he could say, he felt, in this moment to comfort her. And he shocked himself when he pushed her just far back enough to kiss her forehead.

Anu was surprised too. She looked up at him seeing nothing but conflict etched into his features. Steve was mentally repeating his famous mantra: _You just think of her as a little sister,_ _right? _If Anu could have read that more clearly amidst the confusion, she wouldn't have bought it. Acting purely on impulse herself, she stood up on her toes and placed a soft kiss right on his lips.

She was still wrapped in him arms and, for a second, his grip seemed to grow slack. But just as she began to worry she'd assumed wrong, he began to respond. Bringing a hand to the back of her head, he pulled her closer and they began to kiss more deeply. For the first time since she'd been ordered to this realm, Anu felt… comfortable. And something more, of course, but she wasn't overthinking it in that moment.

"Guys!" It was Banner's voice from inside. They broke apart abruptly and looked back in; no one was paying them any attention, yet, they were just calling for them. As the couple broke apart and stepped back, Bruce strode over to the sliding doors of the balcony and poked his head out.

"Seriously, come back in, we're done," he said.

Both with the expression of deer in headlights, and sure their guilt and embarrassment must be palpable, they nodded silently and followed him back in.

"So, when do we leave?" Clint asked her when they reentered the room.

Anu looked to Fury first to see if he had an opinion on the matter. When everyone simply continued to stare back at her, Anu responded.

"Whenever you're ready," she said, sounding braver than she truly felt.

* * *

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay; I've had too much real life lately. If this chapter was at all confusing, I do encourage you to check out "For the Nine." I'm not sure if they're reading as partner stories or if this is functioning as the stand-alone spin-off I hoped. **

**Thanks as always for all the kind feedback. I hope to start up my more frequent updates soon! **


	7. Chapter 7

They weren't terribly sure they should bring Dr. Banner with them but, at the last minute, Bruce came along. Anu had told them what little she knew of Helheim, which wasn't much considering she'd never been there. But, from the legends, it sounded as if there might be some things in the region that the Hulk might break that he _really _shouldn't break. Like an ice encased pool of the most evil souls of the Nine Realms, for example.

Already, they were walking through the halls of Anu's home palace on Vanaheim. Earlier that morning, they'd all departed from Stark Tower. Tony had had a special room with a drain in the bottom, redone shortly after they'd returned from the wedding just in case they ever needed to use Mimir again. She had to admit, it was a lot better at containing the flood of icy water than Steve's tiny Brooklyn shower.

"I really don't care for this," Tony said, already in his suit with the face flipped up, gesturing to the Vanir guards in parallel lines on either side of them. "It makes me feel claustrophobic. I _can_ protect myself."

Anu sighed. "My mother indulges my father's penchant for formality," she explained, "He mostly employs it as a way of hanging on to the few memories he has left from his life in Rome, we think. But, unfortunately, his memory is _so _bad that the 'protocol' seems to change frequently. We may or may not have to bow, depending."

Even given how stressed she was for her family at this time, Anu couldn't help but smile. The Marc Antony she'd learned about in the museums and from the film was much different than the Deus she'd grown up calling Father. Deus was always somewhat dawdling and out-of-it, very even tempered. He didn't seem at all like the man the Midgardians accounted—cold, hard, strategic. And if that was the man her mother had fallen for, why did her mother still love this new, immortalized version of that man? The new one seemed like a different person completely.

The doors to the throne room swung open and Anu accompanied The Avengers in as the lines of guards parted to form a semicircle around the room. Iluti was on the main floor, beneath the thrones, pacing.

"Loki has been here," she said, not waiting for any formalities though Deus remained upon his throne, "And _your_ soldier, Thor, has abandoned us to help him. Despite his marriage to your sister!"

It seemed strange that both men would have out and out betrayed their Vanir in-laws, so Anu was inclined to deduce that they probably had their reasons. The bigger surprise was that Loki had come to Vanaheim. "Loki was _here?_" she clarified, "I thought Alflyse held him captive on Svartalfheim."

"He escaped, how we do not know. He did not stay long enough to tell us! He left for Asgard and now Heimdall will not open the gate."

"This is open rebellion from the Aesir," he father said in an eerily steady voice, "They are _supposed _to be our greatest allies."

"Wait, I don't understand… what happened?" Anu asked. Her parents seemed too angry to relay the story. Nanshe parted from her other sisters and walked over.

"Loki came back… he _demanded_ to be coronated and he insisted we provide him with an army," she explained.

"He's just lost his wife and unborn child to Helheim, I would _hope_ he responded in such a fashion," she whispered only loud enough for her sister to hear.

"As a husband and father, _yes_. But our parents don't think he's thinking politically right now, they don't trust his judgement," she said.

Anu sighed. There was nothing she could do about that. She prayed her parents did not expect them to attempt to tail the brothers. Perhaps Thor's wife, Enir, would reach out, anyway. It was more important that they focused on the task at hand: Get Zinia back.

"Well I suppose that saves us a trip to Svartalfheim," Anu said to her mother, "Shall we focus on sending a team to Niffleheim?"

"The Bifrost could take you to Helheim," Iluti answered, "But as we cannot access that, you will have to take Mimir to Niffleheim and enter Helheim the same way your sister must have."

"Your sister Kia is well-educated on the geography of our Nine Realms," her father said, "She will help you prepare for the trip."

"Not all of you will be able to make the trip, I expect," Iluti said. Steve could have sworn she was staring him down in that moment, but he wrote it off as paranoia.

Effectively dismissed, they followed Kia through the halls to a private library. Unfolded on the table were ancient illustrations of Niffleheim and Helheim. Partial sketches of maps accompanied some of them.

"No one has ever mapped out the regions in full," Kia began, "After all, we typically try to avoid them."

"This doesn't sound foreboding at _all_," Tony said. Kia ignored him.

"Mother is right that not all of you will be able to travel to Helheim," she continued, "It's an intricate system within the roots of Yggdrasil. Its entrance on Niffleheim is nothing more than a portal. Helheim does not lie within Niffleheim as many once believed. The entrance is a small, inconspicuous cave near the bottom edge of the realm's southernmost hemisphere."

"I think you may need to translate that a bit more…" Anu began.

"There's a cave on Niffleheim but it doesn't lead into the planet," Dr. Banner interrupted, "It's just a portal to realm within the layers of our galaxy itself. Helheim's existence confirms the theory on space-time continuum, that space and time share the same dimension."

"Well we _all_ got that, Bruce," Tony said with an eye roll.

"That's right, Dr. Banner," Kia said, "So my sister is in an altered state of time right now. While it's been several days since her disappearance for us, where she is it may have only been five minutes."

"So what does that mean for us? When we cross the portal?" Natasha asked.

"Not all of you can," Kia started again, "The Hulk could destroy our entire galaxy if he were to lose control in Helheim. And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, humans cannot withstand the conditions of Hel."

"Who does that leave us with then?" Anu asked.

"I would consider myself a bit more well equipped than your average humane," Steve stepped up, "I was frozen for several decades and survived, after all."

"The most freezing conditions on Earth would not begin to prepare you, Captain," Kia said softly, "No, someone with the strength of a god but the ability to maintain control is the only option to accompany Anu. Mr. Stark?"

"Sorry kiddos, some jobs only a grown-up can handle," Tony said, laughing.

"Oh shut _up_," Clint said with a huff.

"But," Kia said, interrupting them, "You should all make the trip to Niffleheim. The realm is covered in monsters. It's a miracle Zinia did not have to face them… it's unlikely you will be as lucky. And on Niffleheim, you'll want someone _exactly_ like the Hulk."

* * *

Anu wasn't a fool; she knew the freezing waters of Mimir bothered the humans when they traveled, though they did their best not to show it. The only one of them with a suit to completely withstand the cold was Tony, of course.

But upon landing firmly on the icy terrain of Niffleheim, her companions were no longer able to be so stoic. Tony was still fine, but the others were shivering instantaneously.

"_Christ!" _Clint practically shrieked.

"W-we n-need to build a f-f-fire," Natasha said with chattering teeth.

"No problem," Tony said, "We just need something to burn."

While the rest of them looked around for wood and other flammable objects, Anu surveyed the flat white vista around them. She was perfectly fine and didn't particularly feel cold. Peeking out beneath the snow in certain spots were orange-red tips of desert mountains, more typical of a very warm climate.

"There we go!" she heard Steve say.

Anu turned around. Using a few stray branches from the few leafless trees scattered every dozen yards or so, Tony had used his suit to start a fire.

"And look, over there," Bruce said, pointing. Between two red peaks, barely visible, was the dark, black mouth of a cave. "That's gotta be it there's, nothing else out here."

"Mimir does tend to get you as close as possible to your intended destination," Anu mused aloud.

"It's so quiet here…" Natasha breathed. But as soon as the words left her mouth, a great cracking sound ripped through the air around them. The earth beneath their feet shook and they all began to rise simultaneously in the air. Tony used his suit to fly off of the rapidly rising mound and, hovered beside it while they all struggled to maintain balance. The mass of snowy land underneath them unleashed a horrific, deafening roar.

"My _god_, it's alive!" Steve shouted. A massive, snowy claw wrapped around the creature's back to swipe at them and, simultaneously, they all jumped.

Anu heard another roar, not quite as loud, and looked to her left upon landing. Bruce had transformed. The Hulk hurled himself into the leg of the creature causing it to buckle. It shrieked into the air again and all of them, Hulk included, covered their ears. Its huge gaping mouth had enormous icicle fangs that looked like they could slice through any one of them with ease.

"What is that thing?" Steve called out.

"The monster Ymir!" Anu called back, dodging a fist as the monster angrily pounded his into the ground. "An Ice Giant! It protects the realm!"

"Like Loki?" Iron Man asked and shot one of his lasers at the monster in an attempt to melt it. It had no effect, other than making Ymir angrier.

"A distant, distant evolutionary relative maybe? Not a Frost Giant, though," Anu answered while dodging clump after clump of heavy falling snow from the creature's back.

Hawkeye and Black Widow had taken up posts several hundred feet away, assessing the situation. If they got too close without a plan, they'd be killed. They weren't as strong as the rest of the team.

"You have to go!" Steve called at her.

"I can't leave you here!" she shouted back.

"Go! The cave is right there, you can't miss this opportunity!" As he said it, finally a fist collided with him, hurling him back at least 50 yards. Luckily, he landed in a freshly powdered pile of soft snow.

"Steve!" she called, but something was lifting her beneath her arms. It was Tony. He was flying her towards the cave. "We can't leave them!"

"They can take care of themselves," he said, and jettisoned them both through the mouth of the cave.

* * *

Captain America was awash in a mess of conflicting feelings when he saw Anu disappear into the cave. But he didn't have time to think of them now; he had to help his team. Luckily, though, Hulk appeared to be holding down the fight fairly well himself. With every wack or smack he threw at Ymir, giant hunks of snow would fall off, causing the creature to cry out as it grew less voluminous.

Every punch Ymir threw at Hulk seemed to hit the green Avenger like a playful snowball; it did no damage. Within a matter of minutes, the creature was so decreased in size it was actively attempting to escape from Hulk. He collapsed in an exhausted heap, passed out cold. The others rushed over to wrap him up in extra clothes they'd brought just in case this exact thing happened and to start another fire while he transformed back into regular old Bruce. This time they had to start the fire the old fashioned way, but they managed to get the job done fairly quickly.

"I can't believe he defeated it so easily," Natasha said.

"Not sure _'easily' _would be the appropriate word," Clint said.

Steve surveyed the blanket of snow around them uneasily. "Something tells me it could come back at any time," he said, "It's just snow… but it's everywhere."

The others nodded. Hawkeye had a particularly stern from etched into his forehead as he also cast his eyes across the snow.

"Hawk, I think you should take post by the cave," Black Widow said, approaching the crouching archer.

"Why? It's a portal, not a drop down. Kia said that there would be no way to reach them from here, the flip in time and space, or whatever…"

"All the same," she said, peering over the edge to the depths below. It just made her feel better. Not to mention, no one had seemed to worry about the possibility of anything trying to come back _up_.

* * *

Tony had taken them in head first, meaning they were upside down but, after flying through a shimmering crack in the remaining light from the mouth of the cave the world shifted and they were flying upright.

"Weird!" Iron Man said from within the suit. He was carrying her upwards towards a ledge high up on the cave's wall.

It was very strange; looking below there was nothing but a pit of darkness. Expanding above them was the same thing. The only reason they could even see the ledge sticking out above them was thanks to the lights on the suit.

Tony landed softly and set her down. It was much colder in here. Anu finally noticed the temperature, unlike on Niffleheim. She wondered if Tony could feel it too, through the suit, but didn't ask.

"What now? Your sister didn't give us much to go on once we went through the portal," Iron Man said.

The ledge they were on was only about five meters in circumference. Behind them it just appear to be the cave wall. But it was very dark and hard to tell. Anu took a step closer to the wall, watching her feat, and thought she saw something.

"Turn off the light," she said and Tony powered down just enough to engulf them in darkness: Except for a faint blue glow emitting from the snow. Anu took another step and the snow glowed a bit brighter beneath the step. Ahead of her, the path lit up to illuminate a small crevice with the walls.

"Do you hear anything?" he asked behind her. Anu listened hard. "The suit detects sound waves," he explained.

She waited a moment and then… "Whispers?" she breathed.

Iron Man walked to her side to peer down the narrow crevice. "The sound waves are coming from there," he said, "I think that's our ticket."

"Well," she said with a nervous gulp, "Let's get started."

The squeeze between the walls was beyond tight. Anu, tiny as she was, didn't have a particularly tough time but Tony's suit was quite bulky. Several times they had to stop to let him saw through portions of the rock to create a wider opening. Those stops tended to take a least half an hour themselves; the rock was unforgiving.

The whispers within their little tunnel waxed and waned. They couldn't even catch a snippet of specific words but Tony had Jarvis analyze what he could and they discovered they were all different languages. Most of them Jarvis could not identify, meaning they were likely a mix of different un-Earthly civilizations' dialects as well ancient ones. Some of the words of these dead whispers likely hadn't been vocalized by any living beings within Yggdrasil for millennia.

What Jarvis had timed to be four hours later—though time didn't have any real meaning in here—the glowing blue snow beneath them was slowly dispersing into solid, but slippery, footing. The walls, too, changed. Their rough surfaces slowly became smooth and cool. Marble, Anu thought.

A dim light seemed to emerge ahead of them and then they both heard a clear, female voice ring out in the distance.

"Well my Queen," the voice said, "It appears you have visitors approaching.

* * *

It was past dusk and the sunset over Niffleheim bloomed a deep emerald green casting light over the snow to almost make it look like grass. They'd been gone for more than six hours; Steve was worried.

Natasha, poking a stick into their fire, looked at the Captain, sensing his unease. "We have a back-up plan, Rogers," she said, realizing that her tone came out more stern than comforting.

"I know… if they're gone a day, we send one of us through the portal, rope attached," he said, not feeling any better now that he'd repeated it allowed.

Bruce had woken up by now and was huddled near the fire donned in his extra clothing. "I know it seems like a long time," he said, "But remember, for them… they could have only been gone five minutes. Who knows?"

"I think that's part of what's so disconcerting," Steve answered. "We have absolutely… no sense of _anything_. We don't know how these portals work… no firm understanding of rips in time or space..." he trailed off.

"Tony wouldn't let anything too horrible happen, I'm sure," Bruce said and Clint chuckled in agreement.

They all let their gaze wander to the cave. It still betrayed nothing except for instilling them all with a similar sense of unease. Steve knew Tony could handle himself; he was worried about Anu—a fact that doubtlessly would have insulted the poor girl terribly. Deep down he knew she could take care of herself too, possibly even better than Tony. But he was slowly becoming more and more aware of the intensity of his feelings. He wasn't sure how to label them exactly, but he knew he cared for her a great deal.

"We need to start getting some sleep," Clint said, "I'll take first watch."

They nodded, all bleary eyed. Steve tried to settle himself on the thin pallet he'd brought but had a feeling he wouldn't be getting any rest until Anu returned.

* * *

She entered the cavern from beyond the cave's squeeze first, though they could both see the bright light of the antechamber before them. They pushed through the final few inches of the tight tunnel they'd come through and, finally, they were in the throne room of Helheim: Éljúðnir.

The few whispers they'd heard before—fading in and out during their passage through the walls of the cave into the region of Helheim—were in full force now. The room almost seemed to suggest they were outdoors, but Anu knew this was not the case. So brightly lit was the snow covered room, one was unable to sense where the walls and the ceiling ended, giving it the feeling of an infinite perspective. Rising from the marble floor, seemingly unimpeded by the hard rock, grew a massive oak tree whose trunk formed a chair.

Atop this tree throne was the most terrifying being that Anu had ever laid eyes on: Hel, half woman and half skeleton. Her skeletal half wasn't even white as you'd expect bone to be. Instead, the woman was completely charred and, even worse, expressionless. Sitting at the base of the tree, trying to find a comfortable position between the tree's roots, was her sister Zinia.

Zinia did not look herself. Anu had grown up admiring her oldest sister's natural tan, as well as the deep blonde locks that almost appeared brunnette. Stuck here in Helheim, Zinia had channeled her dark magic. Her skin was alabaster pale and her hair a brilliant silver. She was wearing a deep black velvet dress that Anu suspected she'd worn on her initial trip to Svartalfheim.

Zinia looked so out of it she almost seemed drugged. While Hel's face was so stoic it was difficult to tell what she saw, Zinia seemed brainwashed. Anu knew that, at least, Hel was aware of their presence because she'd heard her mention it as she and Tony had approached. As if on cue, she spoke up.

"And here they are now!" she said. Zinia's head perked up and she stared Anu straight in the eye.

"Anu?" Zinia asked, as if she didn't quite believe what she saw.

At this point, Iron Man stepped ahead of her. "We're here to rescue… _Queen_ Zinia," he said, still struggling with the authoritative title, "If you give her to us now, there won't be a problem."

Hel didn't answer immediately, giving Anu a chance to survey Éljúðnir. Behind the tree-throne, Anu could see the ice-encased lake the legends spoke of. She was too far away to see exactly what was in the depths of the lake, but she could see hundreds upon hundreds of blob-like creatures suspended within the ice.

"As I've told your queen before," Hel said, "She is free to leave anytime she wants."

"And how exactly would she go about doing so?" he asked, not afraid in the slightest to push further.

Hel just smiled mysteriously, causing Tony to interrogate her further. Zinia looked resigned. It was clear she'd already tried this line of questioning.

"Really? Not even a teeny clue?" Tony asked, flipping the face of his suit down, "Let's see what we can do about that."

Before Hel had a chance to react, a blue laser shot out from the the fist of Iron Man's suit, directed straight at hell. With just a twitch to change its direction, the laser sliced Hel's one flesh-covered hand straight off. She yelped in agonizing pain and grasped her wrist just below the stump, gasping dramatically. Black blood was spurting out and dripping down her arm.

"_You!" _she sneered, looking at him with teeth clenched but still just clutching her arm. Finally she released it and raised her remaining skeletal hand. As it rose above her head, a pulsing blue orb of energy formed between the bony fingers. She was preparing to hurl it at him when suddenly Anu felt something rising within her.

The anger she felt on behalf of her friend formed into something tangible and, suddenly, energy began to swell from within her core like a quickly surfacing tsunami. With a supersonic boom that pulsed from her, the great wave of energy was released and rippled through the cavern of Helheim, sending Hel flying backwards against her throne hard, along with Zinia.

Tony, whom had been standing behind her, still stood upright. Zinia used Hel's distraction to her advantage and rushed over to the pair. Anu, on the other hand, had to struggle to keep herself upright once the force vanished; she stumbled and almost fell flat on her face.

"Hel, you're outnumbered," Zinia said softly.

Hel pushed herself up from the throne, grimacing, but looking resigned.

"As I have told you before," she said, "You are free to leave whenever you wish."

"_How?" _Zinia demanded.

Hel began to cackle and Anu looked frantically between her sister and Iron Man. He wasn't emoting through the suit, obviously, but his posture seemed to suggest annoyance.

"Screw her," he said, "We'll go back the way we came." He turned towards the crawl through which they'd all traveled and Zinia followed.

"But how will we get back through the portal?" Anu asked.

"We'll figure it out when we get there!" he called back.

Tony led the way this time, the lights of his suit guiding them as the never-ending shrieking laughter of Hel died down behind them over time. Thanks to the portions of the cave he'd carved out with his lasers on the trip down, returning was much quicker going.

"It can't be as easy as this," Zinia said.

"Maybe it can be! Maybe the only thing keeping you in Helheim was your own fear," Anu answered.

"Hel _did_ seem the type to play around with stupid riddles," Tony added and they kept moving forward.

But, no more than 20 minutes into their trip, the floor of the cave began to bank sharply upwards.

"I don't remember this hill," Anu said, beginning to sweat from the exertion, even in the cold of Helheim.

"I don't either. Jarvis, what do you think?" Tony asked.

"_I have been unable to maintain static coordinates for the duration of the trip, sir. The location of Helheim seems to switch at random in arbitrary intervals," _he reported dutifully.

"Crap," Tony swore.

"Didn't you tell them?" Zinia asked, "Helheim lies within several dimensions-"

"Space-time continuum, blah blah blah, I _know_," Tony said, "I _am_ a genius, after all. But the basic physics lesson isn't helping us get out of here, princess."

"_Queen!" _

"This isn't the time!" Anu shouted at both of them. The hill was so steep at this point they were all on their hands and knees half-crawling and half-climbing. Tony was having an easier time in comparison as his suit did most of the work to keep him steady, grounded, and moving forward.

Anu felt herself begin to slip backwards and, just as she was about to cry out, the whispers of Helheim swarmed the group—an invisible wind flapping about them, so many voices in combination that the sound was almost that of the flapping of bats' wings.

"What the _hell_?" Tony cried.

"I think we're close," Zinia said. If that was true, the trip back to the portal was much quicker than their initial trip through the portal and into Helheim. Time and space really didn't have any meaning down here; it was enough to drive one insane. Zinia's still silver-white hair flew up in a fury around her head. As Anu's hair followed suit, she could have sworn she felt something more than wind touching her face… something pawing at her skin, ghostly clawing fingers.

"They don't want us to leave!" Anu gasped, the terrible realization hitting her and making her stomach knot. At this point they were all legitimately climbing. The squeeze had ended. They were gripping the nooks of a vertical rock wall.

"Wait a minute," Tony said ahead of them, "Do you see that?"

Zinia and Anu both craned their necks back to look above to where Iron Man was pointing. A light emitting from his wrist helped them see it. A fracture in the air above them betrayed the space—it wasn't empty air to continue the climb; above them lay a portal.

"We don't know where it leads," Zinia cautioned. "It could take us anywhere from Vanaheim to Svartalfheim to a portion of empty space within the galaxy."

"Only one way to find out…" Tony said and continued climbing. "Stay here." Just a few feet later he popped his head through, it disappeared and his torso followed, leaving just the lower half of his suit visible. After a matter of seconds, he climbed through fully.

"What do we do now?" Anu asked.

"We wait, what else?" Zinia said.

They didn't have to wait long. An arrow abruptly shot through the portal hurling downwards toward them. Zinia caught it in her hands easily, there was a rope attached. She looked over her shoulder and tossed it Anu.

"An enemy?" she asked.

"Hawkeye," Anu said and smiled, "Take the rope."

They both grasped it, pulling it taut, and felt themselves begin to be pulled up.

* * *

It had been just under 24 hours when Tony's top half appeared. The remaining Avengers on Niffleheim were preparing to lower Steve, via a rope, into the portal leading to Helheim when it happened.

"Well! Hey guys!" the top half of Iron Man said, "That was lucky. Guess these portals are more static than we gave them credit for."

"Is she-" Steve started but Tony interrupted him.

"Your girl is fine Cap," he said, fully pulling himself out of the portal and onto the snowy land around them. "And you should know by now she can take care of herself. Hawk, shoot a rope down."

Clint did and Tony continued, flipping the face of his suit open. "She put on a pretty impressive display back there. Knocked the goddess of hell right off her feet."

Steve was only half listening, now intently watching the rope and feeling both relieved but simultaneously unnerved when the rope pulled taught. Pulling someone from the dark depths of a portal within the time framework of your universe was not exactly what one would call a familiar scenario.

"So I'm assuming you got her, our _Queen_," Bruce said, with a hint of cynicism that rivaled Tony's.

"See for yourself," he said.

Zinia was indeed the first to rise out of the portal, her skin slowly fading back to a normal color and her hair losing its silver tint.

Anu followed suit, scanning for Steve as soon as she was out. "How long were we gone?" she asked once she met his eyes.

"A day," he said, walking over to offer her a hand to steady herself, which she chose not to except. "What about on your end?"

"I'm not sure, several hours?"

"_My system recorded a time of approximately eight hours," _Jarvis responded without even needing a cue from Tony.

"I must thank all of you," Zinia said, finally speaking up, "Your assistance was invaluable. But it is of paramount importance that we summon Mimir and return to Vanaheim. I need to see my husband, Hel has done something-"

"-Yeah… about Loki…" Anu started but trailed off awkwardly.

"What about him? He escaped Alflyse, Hel told me!" she responded, becoming frantic.

"Wait a minute, you said Hel did _something_. What did she do?" Natasha asked, stepping in with an authoritative tone. Anu knew she was resolute in her mission to gather intel for Fury.

"She's brought someone back from the dead," Zinia said grimly. "Come, we must be on our way."

* * *

**Hey guys! As I still want this story and "For the Nine" to function separately, this was updated simultaneously with the other and they both repeat some of the same scenes. The difference is solely in point of view for the repeated scenes. The next chapters for both stories will be back to their own plots, out of the crossover. Hope that all makes sense! **

**Sorry for the delay, I had to work on two chapters at the same time to make sure the right plot points fell into place. Thanks for sticking with me!**


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